BIG NAMES
it’s not going to bring the rest of the Virgin
group crashing down. Fortunately, we’ve
never actually had a company go bust. In
fact, for reputation reasons, we’ll bail out
companies that do have problems. If there
was an absolute catastrophe, then the
group’s protected. We have a small central
team that the managing directors of those
350 companies will report into, and they
will review how the individual companies
are doing on a weekly basis and keep a
check on things. That frees me up to dive
in on the bigger issues. Right now, we’re
trying to rescue a big bank in England called
Northern Rock, and turn it into a Virgin bank.
It’s run into financial difficulties over the
mortgage crisis. So, I’m freed up to be able
to give that some time and attention and
give us the best chance of pulling it off.
Joe: Do you ever take complete free days,
where you do nothing work related? You
just simply let your mind just relax and gel
and be creative and do what it does, aside from getting stranded in
aeroplanes in the middle of the ocean and things along those lines.
Do you schedule actual recovery sort of days and stuff, or are you just
constantly always doing stuff?
Richard: I do. Like a couple of weeks ago, I had a group of friends
to Necker Island, and pretty well shut myself off from work. I played
a lot of tennis, did a lot of kite surfing, did some ordinary surfing. It’s
obviously incredibly important to keep the body fit in order to keep
the mind fit and be able to find time for friends. I’m very fortunate
having Necker Island, where I can invite friends and family and pull up
the drawbridge and walk around all day with no shoes and socks on,
and recharge the batteries. I do have a small team of people here so
if I need to work, which obviously most of the time I do, I can get my
work done as well.
To be continued…
Our dearest readers, we will continue the interview
in our next February 2018 edition.
Please keep reading and learn from the best!
GUESS
THE PLACE
5
THE LUCKY DRAW WILL BE HELD
AT THE PLACE IN THE PICTURE ON
9TH DECEMBER 2017 AT 20:00 HRS
Terms and Conditions:
• Prize vouchers can be redeemed for dine-in only
• Vouchers cannot be combined with any other promotion
or disco