This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
30 . Glasgow Business May/June 2014


WE’RE UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL


Glasgow Chamber members with Sir Richard Branson at the recent Up Close and Personal event


Sir Richard Branson and Sir Brian Souter meet members at Glasgow Chamber of Commerce event


Y


our Chamber hosted Sir Richard Branson and Sir Brian Souter at an Up Close and Personal event at Edinburgh’s G&V Hotel recently,


ahead of the Scotish Business Awards the same evening, which had Sir Richard as guest speaker. An audience made up of Glasgow Chamber


member companies and small delegations from Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and Scotish Chambers of Commerce heard the two Sirs speak about the success of Virgin Trains – which is 51 per cent owned by Sir Richard’s Virgin Group and 49 per cent by Sir Brian’s Stagecoach Group. Sir Richard harked back to his decision to


move into trains, revealing, tongue in cheek, that he had done so only aſter answering a leading question from a Sunday newspaper journalist that had resulted in the headline “Branson to take on the rail industry”. He spoke of an early move to boost the


morale of the dispirited workforce he inherited – a five-day party at his country home to which he invited 20,000 people – his new staff and their families. Sir Brian told of how Virgin Trains had


trebled the amount of people using its trains “by delivering an exceptional service”. He joked that Sir Richard was responsible for marketing, while he “cleaned the toilets”. Earlier, the pair accepted a giſt of “People


Make Glasgow” socks from Glasgow Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Stuart Patrick – specially produced by Chrissy Mackay of BeYonder Ltd. Te delegates then broke into small groups,


and Sir Richard and Sir Brian spent the next hour moving around these groups for an informal and friendly discussion, with everybody present having the chance to ask questions of both. Te discussion tackled subjects like the


future of the West Coast Main Line and the likelihood of high-speed rail coming to Scotland – but it also moved beyond rail to bringing Virgin StartUp funding to Scotland and the Litle Red airline to Glasgow Airport.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52