A matter of opinion
Sir: Richard Branson (Letters, 28 Febru- ary) argues that my article on his business interests was filled with mistakes because I did not bother to check the facts. I contact- ed his office on three occasions in an attempt to check facts relating to the arti- cle. My calls were not returned.
I made, to my knowledge, no factual mis- takes. For example, Mr Branson claims that the proportion of train delays on the West Coast main line attributable to Virgin has not increased. Railtrack figures, however, show that the number of delays on the West Coast line that were attributable to Railtrack has fallen by 19 per cent, whereas the number of delays caused by train failure have risen by 15.5 per cent.
Mr Branson claims that he has never walked out of an interview. When, howev- er, he was interviewed on Panorama last month, and was quoted the above statistics about the performance of Virgin Trains, he refused to continue the interview, as the presenter made clear at the time.
As for such matters as the degree of management control which Virgin exercises over its companies, they are matters of opinion. Also as a matter of opinion, I believe that Richard Branson has over- stretched his brand and, for all his market- ing skills, faces a bleak future.
Edward Heathcoat Amory
The Spectator, 56 Doughty Street, London WC1
Previous page
