Life can seem rather unreal at times. Alive and well and loving one day. No longer there the next.

Learn to live on the edge.

I'm sure if Brawn GP keep plying me with champagne and putting gorgeous Virgin girls either side of me, you never know!

When employees tell you about their good ideas for the business, don't limit your response to asking questions, taking notes and following up. If you can, ask those people to lead their projects and take responsibility for them. From those experiences, they will then have built the confidence to take on more and you can take a further step back.

We'll not be sending anyone into space before it is safe and the vehicle is well and truly tested.

I never learned the rules in the first place. To change the game is at the heart of what Virgin stands for, so the company culture has always been: "Don't sweat it: rules were meant to be broken."

If you love what you do and if you believe in what you do, others will share your enthusiasm. Passionate people find their way to the Virgin Group, and when they do, we snap them up and try to keep them within the family.