Throwing yourself into a job you enjoy is one of the life's greatest pleasures!

If you get into business solely to make money, you won’t. If you try to make a real difference, you’ll find success.

What we are trying to do at Virgin is not to have one enormous company in one sector under one banner, but to have two hundred or even three hundred separate companies. Each company can stand on its own feet and, in that way, although we've got a brand that links them, if we were to have another tragedy such as that of 11 September - which hurt the airline industry - it would not bring the whole group crashing down.

A generation ago, the image was that you had to trample everyone else down to succeed; but I don't believe that makes good business sense.

If you get your face and your name out there enough, people will start to recognize you.

If you look for the best in your employees, they'll flourish. If you criticize or look for the worst, they'll shrivel up. We all need lots of watering.

I was trouble - and always in trouble. Aged eight I still couldn't read. In fact, I was dyslexic and short-sighted. Despite sitting at the front of the class, I couldn't read the blackboard. Only after a couple of terms did anyone think to have my eyes tested. Even when I could see, the letters and numbers made no sense at all.