Branson, and NTL, what a clever man!
- Thread starter rossyl
- Start date
leaskovski said:What is the reason for him and the Virgin name anyway? Does anyone know the storey behind that at all?
IIRC from an Interveiw he did he said he called it that because his first company thing he started was very new and done at such an early age
Phæte said:
Got mine last week, I thought it odd that they are branding themselves as a new four media company that will compete in all four feilds and then went on to say how good each of the parts were but in the TV section there was a notable lack of anything about HD.
Anyone know of any ntl (Virgin Media) HD plans?
Man of Honour
- Joined
- 31 Jan 2004
- Posts
- 16,338
- Location
- Plymouth
I've never heard that before so I'm assuming people do, and there's some sort of history here I'm not aware of, otherwise it seems odd to pick Trump - why not Mickey Mouse - slightly oddrossyl said:
Where are the terms & conditions? Not sure exactly what that means. Probably they will keep your details in case you need technical support? I doubt it means they will sell it on to a third party, or keep your details if you decide to leave. Or even inform the emergency services i.e. fire brigade, police lol.Bear said:
It's a fancy 7-page rectangular glossy booklet in the style of their site. Comes in a catchy black and red envelope which at first I thought was a debt or "Shame for leaving us!" letter.Psyk said:
Really? Hmm. Well I've moved to a smaller ISP now which I think (based on feedback) gives you great speeds 24/7 within a reasonable (30GB) bandwidth limit.teaboy5 said:
Soldato
- Joined
- 5 Aug 2003
- Posts
- 8,535
- Location
- Essex
nands said:
Loads of films and programmes are being encoded in HD for telewest on demand, soon to be Virgin
Soldato
- Joined
- 28 Jun 2006
- Posts
- 5,248
- Location
- Newcastle upon Tyne
Well, Telewest already offers HD (TV Drive), so I imagine that would form a core part of any HD offering from Virgin Media.nands said:
I have heard that Telewest had sme HD, but I still thought it odd that there was no mention in the package. You would have thought it would be a major seller - but saying that the package went out to existing customers, not new ones.
Just to clarify a few things.
Richard's family weren't rich though were fairly comfortable. His father was a barrister so there is no way he gave Richard £4m.
His parents saved money for all their kids and he was given £2,500 towards buying the country manor which was the recording studio for Virgin Records. He obtained a £20,000 mortgage from the bank and borrowed £7,500 from his aunt which was paid back with interest. This made up the £30k for the manor.
He built up his business mainly by borrowing from the bank.
With regards to the OP, is this something you have read? Do you have a source?
It doesn't really make sense. Whether NTL retained the Virgin name or not surely wouldn't have been that important as Richard Branson would obviously rebrand the whole company when he bought it later, no? And why did he sell if he knew he was going to buy back?
Not disputing what you say but interested to know the underlying reasons.
Richard's family weren't rich though were fairly comfortable. His father was a barrister so there is no way he gave Richard £4m.
His parents saved money for all their kids and he was given £2,500 towards buying the country manor which was the recording studio for Virgin Records. He obtained a £20,000 mortgage from the bank and borrowed £7,500 from his aunt which was paid back with interest. This made up the £30k for the manor.
He built up his business mainly by borrowing from the bank.
With regards to the OP, is this something you have read? Do you have a source?
It doesn't really make sense. Whether NTL retained the Virgin name or not surely wouldn't have been that important as Richard Branson would obviously rebrand the whole company when he bought it later, no? And why did he sell if he knew he was going to buy back?
Not disputing what you say but interested to know the underlying reasons.
Beansprout said:I've never heard that before so I'm assuming people do, and there's some sort of history here I'm not aware of, otherwise it seems odd to pick Trump - why not Mickey Mouse - slightly odd
When Branson started a similar show to Trump's Apprentice (well not that similar) people started comparing the two especially in the States.
The Trump v Branson thing see above.Jambo said:
Right done some research and here's what happened with the NTL and Virgin thing.
NTL approached Virgin with a view to take over Virgin Mobile to add to its services under the NTL banner. Virgin were always firm in that the name Virgin Mobile would not be lost so that its market image be kept broad.
The virgin Mobile board were unsure to accept the cash offer for their shares, but it seems Branson led the takeover by stating he would accept less money in return for NTL shares. This would lead to him losing out on a reported £42m from the initial deal. However his reasons for doing this were obviously then noticed by the Virgin board...
Then a very clever Virgin Board followed Bransons initial idea instead of just taking the cash negotiated that they will be paid in cash and in NTL shares. The result of this was that Virgin would become the largest shareholder of NTL. As a result of that they agreed at the Virgin Mobile takeover that NTL Telewest would be rebranded under the Virgin name.
So effectively it was a reverse takeover.
Amazing. Ntl approach Virgin Mobile to take them over, and the result is they give the Virgin group money and get effectively taken over at the same time. That Branson is one clever clever boy.
Samtheman1k said:
Thats his single big advantage. Shareholders are notoriously short sighted, only interested in short term profits than long term gain. Richards plans usually cost Virgin in the short term but with big much longer term advantage.
if you look at Bransons dealings he always goes into partnership with people already experts in the field. By not just going into business but giving them a real share of the business it gives the partner an incentive to make the company do well.
For example, Virgin Airlines is 49% owned by Singapore airlines.
For example, Virgin Airlines is 49% owned by Singapore airlines.
rossyl said:
It was nothing like the bloody Aprentice. Richards Show was 100% more entertaining then bloody Donalds!!
Some of the things he got them to do was just
Like climbing on top of hot air balloons while they move.
I think they winner won the entire Virgin company and name and will get it whn Richard Retires or dies. I cant remember what.
Good ol Rich
Man of Honour
- Joined
- 29 Mar 2003
- Posts
- 57,659
- Location
- Stoke on Trent
Zip said:
Nowhere near.
They got taken on in a top job and I think it was for only 12 months.
I think it may have been the Virgin Space program (probably wrong).
I'm also sure that Branson had no help but he cleverly took on the man who would kickstart his empire - Mike Oldfield. Without him and Tubular Bells, Branson would be nobody. He also took the Sex Pistols on when nobody would touch them.