How innovation can lead to empire building
O Virgin group was founded in 1970 by the launch of Virgin Records, the group's first company. It was a company where customers ordered records by email. The entrepreneurial power of Richard Branson, founder of the group, led him to create several companies in various business sectors:
- Travel - Virgin Atlantic; Virgin Trains; etc.
· Leisure - Virgin Hotels; Virgins Holidays Cruises; etc.
- Telecommunications - Virgin Mobile
- Music and entertainment - V Festival
- Finance - Virgine Unite; Virgine Money; etc.
- Health - Virgin Health; Virgin Active
- Car - Virgine Racing
- Space Tourism - Virgin Galatic
Among many other brands in the group. All with a common link: the Virgin name.
Thanks to Virgin's commitment to innovation over the years, the group has built an empire with more than 60 businesses around the world, 53 million customers, 69,000 employees in 35 countries and revenues of 16.6 billion dollars a year.
A company that started out as a small record store and went on to explore space tourism was due to Richard Branson's willingness to take risks and innovate. The founder looked for gaps in various markets and innovated, creating new business concepts for the success of the brand.
In Portugal, the brand is present through Virgin Active, the group's gyms.