What is the UK’s opinion on Richard Branson?

Posted by Technical_Front_8046@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 33 comments

Following the news of Richard Branson’s wife passing away, I went down a rabbit hole and it seems that he and the Virgin Group have achieved a lot in the UK over the years.

What is the general opinion of him in the UK?

It appears in the early days, many people rooted for him. He was the David to BA’s Goliath.

Now he’s a billionaire, do people in the UK still have time for him?

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yolo_snail@reddit

Well, he doesn't appear to diddle, so that's a start.

I generally consider anything with the Virgin brand to be relatively decent, other than Virgin Media, that's generally gone down the pan since the take over and merger (although I've personally never had an issue with them)

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Sorry_Leopard9657@reddit

I moved to an area without Virgin Media and I can’t tell you how much I miss it. Mine was basically faultless unless there was a national outage, strong connection all over the house using my own router. Sky Fibre is SHITE and they control so much of what you can do, miss u Virgin Media.

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Ok-Sherbet-3519@reddit

you cannot, ever, fully trust anyone with hair like that. I'm not suggesting he has definitely done anything wrong, but he'd be high up the list for investigation just for that.

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ChelseaMourning@reddit

I don’t think anyone has really thought about him since about 2003.

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Old_Introduction_395@reddit

I worked for Virgin from 1997 until 2005.

Our working conditions and benefits were better than other local employers.

There was a series of parties at his house in Oxfordshire for all Virgin staff.

Some colleagues were rewarded with trips to Necker, his private island.

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notanadultyadult@reddit

How come you left?

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ResplendentBear@reddit

Twat. Tax exile. Whatever he's achieved in the UK he doesn't contribute to the country.

Also hate the "fun" image of his companies. They're just their to take your money and hopefully provide you a decent service. They're not your friend.

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Mgbgt74@reddit

You mean all the jobs he has created at his companies. Without individuals like Brandon how do you think the UK makes money to pay for things like the NHS and social care???

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ResplendentBear@reddit

Highlighting a tax exile as an example of how we raise tax, you absolute lemon.

If Branson paid income and corporation tax in the UK the NHS and such might be having an easier time.

Also, Brandon.

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thehatesponge@reddit

Won't someone think of the billionaires. What an upside down view. If they'd pay tax, maybe the NHS would be better financed. Their shareholders would be slightly worse off, but still rich, didums.

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Euphoric_Barber_5424@reddit

Sorry to break this to you but literally zero companies are your friend. They’re all there to take your money for a service or good(s).

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ResplendentBear@reddit

That's sort of my point.

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EUskeptik@reddit

David to BA’s Goliath?

You have to be joking. Branson connived with BA numerous times to keep transatlantic fares high. He saw Freddie Laker trying to compete with the big airlines and ending up bankrupt, so Virgin Atlantic became a cynical exercise in conning the travelling public into thinking he was offering competitive fares when the opposite was true.

Ask anyone who booked with Virgin Weddings how they got on. Branson put the firm into liquidation leaving many couples in the lurch with their wedding plans ruined.

My wife invested in Virgin Pensions. That’s another enterprise Branson liquidated. Her investment was repaid minus 25%. Branson lost nothing, his investors lost £££.

Then there’s Virgin Galactic. Branson promised flights to near space within 2 years and took fares from many people. He was still taking fares 11 years later. It was like an extraterrestrial Ponzi scheme. People paid upwards of £150,000 for flights they didn’t get and Virgin Galactic used the money to invest in and develop the spacecraft and launch systems.

Perhaps the worst of his excesses was Virgin Trains. They entered into a joint venture with Railtrack PLC to redevelop the West Coast Main Line to run high speed trains between London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh. The whole thing was a sham. Railtrack PLC went bust and were replaced by the nationalised Network Rail. Somehow, Branson came out of it smelling of roses and was handsomely compensated with £ billions taxpayers’ money for the failure his company was part of.

My opinion of Branson is extremely low for the above reasons and a lot more besides. Unfortunately, he’s a particularly effective conman and some people love him.

-oo-

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Physical-Bear2156@reddit

He's a bit in your face and full of himself, but he has been serially successful in many different spheres of life. He's very good at what he does.

I admire what he has achieved, but can only take him in small doses.

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Plot-3A@reddit

Makes very nice but expensive pickle.

Wait, my wife just told me he's not the pickle guy?

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samsaBEAR@reddit

I have no option of him but Virgin Cola was fucking rank and he was a fool to try and take on Coke/Pepsi

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CronusCronusCronus@reddit

I think many will say rag to riches but despite being semi famous isn't really well known for anything outside of 'virgin'.

He did publicity for his businesses, but largely kept a large profile otherwise.

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Miserable-Ad7835@reddit

Met him years ago and thought he was a decent guy.

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LemmysCodPiece@reddit

So have I. Seemed like an OK guy.

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VisibleOtter@reddit

His company Virgin Care sued the NHS after they lost a contract in about 2018. Like he needed the money.

He comes across as Mr Nice Guy but he’s still a capitalist millionaire.

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Youngfolk21@reddit

He's always carrying woman in photo calls. It's like his signature pose.

For someone who was told when he was leaving school at 16 that he would either end up dead or in prison, he didn't do too bad!!

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dbxp@reddit

Back in the day he was seen as a business guru but he has been out of the limelight for a long time

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ResplendentBear@reddit

I went to school in the 80s and no one ever tried to change my writing hand. Definitely heard of it happening in the 50s and 60s.

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dbxp@reddit

For some reason our school still inisited on fountain pens when you got into years 5 & 6

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ResplendentBear@reddit

You can write left handed with a fountain pen. People may laugh at your arm position though.

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No-Garbage9500@reddit

Out of all the rich business moguls, he's not as bad as the worst.

For a while he seemed to be doing what you'd expect a normal person to do if they had shitloads of money: do stupid stuff like try to "drive" across the Channel.

That was actually a bit endearing.

But Virgin as an organisation, I'm thinking particularly media, dance that annoying line between having a product that's a little bit better than not having it, but dealing with them as a company is worse than pulling your own teeth out.

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