Ruthless and a daredevil; The would-be Rock buyer with a taste for publicity

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England), Oct 15, 2007

Byline: By PAUL MCMILLAN

LONG before Sir Alan Sugar gained widespread fame with his "you're fired" catchphrase, rival Sir Richard Branson had already mastered the art of self-promotion.

The 57-year-old, with an estimated wealth of more than pounds 3bn, is linked with investment in Northern Rock and well-known for publicity stunts and world record attempts.

From his high-speed Atlantic crossing in Virgin Challenger in 1986 to his hot air balloon ride the following year in Virgin Atlantic Flyer.

His public profile has also been boosted by his regular appearances on television shows and films, including a brief cameo in last year's James Bond blockbuster Casino Royale, through to photo opportunities with Dani Behr to launch Virgin Atlantic double beds.

But in the world of business, his daredevil image has sometimes been underpinned by a ruthless streak.

After running a student magazine, Sir Richard started his Virgin empire in 1970 with a mail order record company before opening a shop in London's Oxford Street. Two years later he built a recording studio in Oxfordshire. Mike Oldfield was the first Virgin artist to record in it, creating five-million selling Tubular Bells.

Artists later to record on Virgin include The Rolling Stones, Phil Collins, Genesis, Belinda Carlisle and Janet Jackson. The music group was sold to Thorn EMI in 1992 in a pounds 697m deal. Facing stiff competition from the internet, he finally broke all links with the brand which made his name last month when he sold his Virgin Megastore chain for an undisclosed sum to Zawi Entertainment Group.

Today Sir Richard's business empire includes an airline, mobile phones, retail, internet services, drinks, hotels and Virgin Money - to become Northern Rock's new name if the deal goes through.

But it has not been all plain sailing as some ventures did not attract the headlines he hoped for. Virgin Trains, launched in 1997, controls the West Coast Mainline in Britain. Until July this year it also operated the Cross Country line from Scotland, through the North East, to South West England.

But the Government handed its Cross Country franchise to Sunderland-based Arriva, which takes control next month, with a pounds 1bn subsidy. Virgin Trains also missed out on the potentially lucrative East Coast Mainline route.

In the early 1990s, Sir Richard became embroiled in a bitter battle with British Airways when getting his airline off the ground and claims made in a BA staff magazine resulted in Sir Richard suing for libel.

BA settled out of court but had a legal bill of up to pounds 3m, damages to Sir Richard of pounds 500,000 and pounds 110,000 to his airline. Sir Richard divided his cash among staff, each getting pounds 166.

The brand is also facing another court battle after Virgin Media stopped carrying Sky TV's basic channels in a dispute over fees.

Sir Richard's business philosophy is summed up in his autobiography Losing My Virginity, where he wrote: "If you start off with a happy, well-motivated workforce, you're far more likely to have happy customers. In due course the resulting profits will make shareholders happy."

CAPTION(S):

STUNTS: Sir Richard Branson launches the Eurostar, in Sir George Cayley's flying machine and in Bognor Birdman 2003; PUBLICITY: Sir Richard Branson with TV presenter Dani Behr