FACT: Richard's Island worth £60million, caught fire after it was struck by
lightning when the region was battered by Hurricane Irene.
How did the business start?
After realizing that his magazine wasn’t making money, Richard Branson hit upon the idea of selling records through the mall at discounted prices. Branson ran ads in his magazine and his mall order record business soon became more profitable than the magazine. To take full advantage of this newfound market, Branson rented an empty shop above a shoe store, put up a few shelves, recruited the staff of Student as employees, and opened a discount record store. They dubbed the store Virgin, because everyone involved was a complete virgin at business.