The Virgin Group: Why is it called virgin?

Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate famous for founding The Virgin Group in the 1970s.

The Virgin brand was born when Richard Branson and his friend Nik Powell launched a mail order record business and chose the name Virgin, because they were entirely new to business.

Equipped with a boldness, audacity and self-belief, the mail order business evolved into Virgin Records with a record shop on Oxford Street in London.

As the business grew, they acquired a large, rundown manor house in Oxford and converted it into a recording studio which they called The Manor.

After expanding across the music and media scene, Virgin made a big leap into aviation.

Virgin Atlantic launched in 1984 and went on to expand into sectors including travel and leisure; telecommunications and media; music and entertainment; financial services and health and wellness.

Currently there are more than 40 Virgin companies operating in 35 countries and employing over 60,000 people.