Virgin Group Ltd is a conglomeration of separately run companies that each use the Virgin brand of British celebrity business tycoon Sir Richard Branson. The core business areas are travel, entertainment and lifestyle, among others. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding company; however Virgin's business and trading activities date to the 1970s.
Although Branson retains complete ownership and control of the Virgin Brand, the commercial set up of companies using it is varied and complex. The group is sometimes perceived as a conglomerate, but this is not in fact the case. Each of the companies operating under the Virgin brand are separate entities, with some being wholly owned by Branson, while he holds minority or majority stakes in others. Occasionally, he simply licenses the brand to a company that has purchased a division from him, such as Virgin Radio (now part of SMG plc) and Virgin Music (now part of EMI). With a few exceptions, all of the companies began as wholly owned Virgin subsidiaries.

Virgin Brands (under various ownership)
Further information: List of Richard Branson's business ventures

AirAsia X — long-haul budget airline operating from Malaysia (20% owned by Virgin Group)
Oüı FM — rock radio station in France and Asia
TheTrainLine — train booking service in the United Kingdom
V Festival — two-day music festival held in two separate locations in the United Kingdom

• V Festival (Australia) — an Australian spin—off of the V Festival, begun in 2007
  Virgin Festival — a North American variant of the V Festival, begun in 2006
  Virgin Active — a health club chain in South Africa, Spain, Italy and the UK
  Virgin America — a budget airline based at San Francisco International Airport, catering for domestic US flights
  Virgin Atlantic Airways — an international carrier based at Heathrow Airport, London
  Virgin Balloon Flights — a hot—air balloon operator
  Virgin Blue — a budget airline in Australia and the South Pacific based in Australia
  
  
  
  • Blue Holidays — holiday program of Virgin Blue
    Pacific Blue — a subsidiary based in New Zealand
    Polynesian Blue — a subsidiary based in Samoa
    V Australia — a trans-Pacific subsidiary between Australia and the United States
    Virgin Books — publisher, retailer and distributor of books
    Virgin Brides — bridal wear shop in Manchester, UK
    Virgin Charter — a private jet online marketplace
    Virgin Cars — a budget car dealership and superstore in the UK (now defunct)
    Virgin Cinemas — sold to UGC, now Cineworld
    Virgin Comics — comic book producer
    Virgin Vie At Home — retailer of cosmetics, jewellery and homeware through internet, direct selling and Virgin Vie stores
    
    
    
    • Virgin Vie [2] — brand of cosmetics and jewelery
      Virgin Digital — online digital music retailer that will close in October 2007
      Virgin Drinks — drink manufacturer
      
      
      
      • Virgin Cola — carbonated cola soft drink
        Virgin Vodka — alcoholic beverage
        Virgin Electronics — formerly Virgin Pulse, consumer electronics
        Virgin Experience Days — corporate and consumer experience events
        Virgin Express — a low-cost European airline, now merged with SN Brussels Airlines to become Brussels Airlines
        Virgin Films (also known as Virgin Pictures) — a short—lived film production company
        Virgin Flowers — retailer of flowers through internet
        Virgin Fuel — venture capital firm for investing in petroleum alternatives
        Virgin Galactic — a venture to market and operate commercial space flights, using spacecraft designed by Scaled Composites.
        Virgin Games [3] — online games and gambling
        Virgin Health Bank [4] — a new business from Branson enabling parents—to—be to store their baby's stem cells
        Virgin Holidays — UK travel agency and tour operator for worldwide destinations served by Virgin Atlantic and its partner companies, including Singapore Airlines
        Virgin Interactive (originally known as Virgin Games) — games distributor now owned by Titus Interactive
        Virgin Jewellery — jewellery arm of Virgin Cosmetics
        Virgin Limited Edition — exclusive hotels
        
        
        
        • Kasbah Tamadot — exclusive Moroccan holiday destination
          Lady B — luxurious Catamaran available for Caribbean charters
          The Lodge — ski lodge
          Natirar — private spa located in Somerset County, New Jersey
          Necker Island — exclusive island in British Virgin Islands for private hire
          The Roof Gardens and Babylon — 1.5 acres open air gardens, venue, nightclub and restaurant in Kensington, London
          Ulusaba — exclusive game reserve in South Africa
          Virgin Limobike — passenger bike service in London
          Virgin Limousines — chauffeured limousine service in San Francisco and Northern California
          Virgin Media — Provides home telephony, cable television, broadband and mobile to the United Kingdom
          Virgin Media Television — a British television network, made up of Virgin 1, Trouble, Bravo, Living TV & 50% stake in UKTV. Formaly known as Flextech.
          
          
          
          • Virgin 1 — a general entertainment channel on Freeview and Virgin Media.
            Virgin Mobile — brand used by several companies providing mobile phone service around the world
            
            
            
            • Virgin Mobile UK — provides mobile phone service in the United Kingdom, now part of Virgin Media
              Virgin Mobile Australia — provides mobile phone service in Australia
              Virgin Mobile Canada — provides mobile phone service in Canada
              Virgin Mobile South Africa — provides mobile phone service in South Africa
              Virgin Mobile USA — provides mobile phone service in the United States
              Virgin Mobile France — provides mobile phone service in France
              Virgin Megastores — CD, DVD and games retailer chain with high—street and online stores
              
              
              
              • Virgin XS — Factory Outlet—orientated format of Virgin Megastores
                Virgin Money — providers of financial services
                
                
                
                • Virgin Credit Card
                  Virgin Nigeria — international, regional and domestic Nigerian airline
                  Virgin Play — a video game promoter, distributor and marketer in Spain
                  Virgin Radio — (now owned by SMG plc) British commercial radio station broadcast on AM, FM (London only), DAB, internet, Digital TV. Other Virgin radio brands include:
                  
                  
                  
                  • Virgin Radio Classic Rock — (SMG plc) classic rock station broadcast on DAB, internet and Satellite TV
                    Virgin Radio Groove — (SMG plc) soul, motown and disco music station broadcast on DAB, internet and Satellite TV
                    Virgin Radio Xtreme — (SMG plc) rock station aimed at teenage males broadcast on DAB, internet and Satellite TV
                    Virgin Radio Asia — collection of station operating in India and Thailand including Virgin Soft, Hitz, Easy FM and Oui
                    Virgin Radio Italy — A new Italian radio station property of Finelco Group, started in July 2007
                    Virgin Records — record label now owned by EMI
                    Virgin Spa — shop chain retailing Virgin Cosmetics product
                    Virgin Sun — a UK based charter airline sold to Air 2000
                    Virgin Trains — a railway operator in the United Kingdom
                    Virgin Unite — charitable foundation
                    Virgin Vacations — U.S. travel agency
                    Virgin Vines — A Californian—based company, created in 2005 and producer of Red and White wines
                    Virgin Voucher — staff incentive scheme
                    Virgin Ware — clothes brand and retailer
                    Virgin Wines — internet wine retailer sold to Direct Wines in 2005
                    V2 Records — an independent music label sold in to EMI in 2006