Up-up but not away: Branson’s historic Virgin Orbit UK rocket launch ends in failure after anomaly forces return to earth January 10, 2023 An attempt to make British space history by launching a rocket into orbit from UK soil has ended in failure after suffering an “anomaly” during the flight. After taking off from Cornwall, the Virgin Orbit plane flew to 35,000ft over the Atlantic Ocean where it jettisoned the rocket containing nine small satellites towards space. Organisers [...]
UK enters space race: where to watch the launch of Virgin Orbit’s Cosmic Girl January 9, 2023 Tonight sees the first launch of a space rocket via UK soil, with an expected launch window starting at 21:45pm tonight. The LauncherOne rocket be attached under the wing of a modified Boeing 747 owned by Virgin Orbit which will take off from Spaceport Cornwall at Newquay Airport. The mission, dubbed ‘Start Me Up’ mission is a collaborative effort [...]
Revenue dips for Virgin Media O2 as it eyes digital expansion and growth November 2, 2022 Virgin Media O2 posted a slight revenue dip in the third quarter, as the telecom giant rides out “an increasingly challenging macroeconomic backdrop”. Adjusted revenue was down 0.6 per cent to £2.59bn, with results dragged down by a 3.7 per cent decline in handset revenue. Total mobile revenues increased by 2.1 per cent to £1.5bn, [...]
Virgin Wines expects customers to dodge the pub for drinks at home October 26, 2022 Virgin Wines has anticipated customers will host more social gatherings at home rather than heading to the pub. In annual results, the online wine retailer said it was “mindful” of the potential impact of the cost of living crunch on frequency and order values. However, it said it expected people would be “more likely to [...]
Virgin Media O2 slashes social tariff broadband price for struggling Brits October 11, 2022 Virgin Media O2 has slashed the price of its social tariff as the telecom giant follows calls to support the hardest hit by macroeconomic headwinds. The price of the basic band, which is specifically targeted at those receiving Universal Credit, will drop by 16 per cent to £12.50 per month for all new and existing customers, making [...]
Richard Branson pumps £30m windfall into Virgin Brands October 4, 2022 Richard Branson has invested some £30m worth of royalties back into his Virgin brand. The British billionaire pumped £25m into the Virgin group last year, down from £85m in 2018. The cash is intended to help support the businesses hit hardest by successive Covid-19 lockdowns worldwide, namely Virgin Atlantic. Virgin Galactic, Branson’s lagging space venture, [...]
Data watchdog takes action against Virgin Media and six public bodies over information request failings September 28, 2022 The UK’s information watchdog has taken action against Virgin Media and six public bodies over their repeated failures to respond to members of the public when asked to hand over personal information. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said the seven public and private sector bodies had repeatedly failed to respond to Subject Access Requests (SAR) [...]
Virgin Money reports jump in accounts as lender braces for cost of living crunch August 2, 2022 Virgin Money boss David Duffy said the lender was braced to support customers through a cost of living crunch today as the high street lender reported a jump in digital personal and business accounts in the third quarter of the year.
Virgin Money to give out £1,000 bonuses to help staff deal with cost-of-living crunch July 19, 2022 Virgin Money today told staff it will be giving out £1,000 bonuses to all workers on salaries of less than £50,000 a year to help them deal with the UK’s cost-of-living crisis. In an internal memo seen by CityAM, Virgin Money chief executive David Duffy told staff earning less than £50,000 that they will [...]
Battle of the telcos: BT fails to block Virgin Media’s title as fastest broadband May 4, 2022 BT has failed in its bid to stop Virgin Media from claiming to be the faster broadband provider this morning as the battle of the telcos rages on. The world’s oldest telecommunications firm put in a complaint to the advertising watchdog about Virgin Media claiming to be the “UK’s fastest major broadband provider” in a TV ad and on its website. [...]