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Virgin Atlantic was in danger of disappearing

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Published Date: 11 October 2008
VIRGIN Atlantic might have "disappeared" if Halifax Bank of Scotland had gone under, Sir Richard Branson has revealed.
The billionaire founder of the airline said HBoS refused to let his company withdraw £1 billion pounds of its money when it looked like it was set to go bankrupt last month.

"Virgin Atlantic may have disappeared if HBoS had gone. It could have been that serious," Sir Richard said.

In an interview with Fox News, he said fears that HBoS was about to go bankrupt led Virgin to try and withdraw £1bn of deposits, but it was told it was unable to under the terms of its deal with the bank.

Sir Richard made the comments as he explained why he thought governments should guarantee "all of their depositors' money in banks".





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1

C R Whitton,

Edinburgh 11/10/2008 14:00:15
Typical of Richard Branson to attempt to withdraw funds that no doubt were deposited on a term basis so that they could earn extra interest ignoring the fact that withdrawals would be only allowed as per the agreement. Its action and that of companies like his and other individuals have contributed to the drop in the share price of HBOS
2

Griffe,

11/10/2008 21:21:56
Surely the withdrawal of £1 billion would have made HBOs bankrupt
3

sonny 1969,

west bromwich 12/10/2008 13:15:49
It's ok sitting there saying typical Richard Branson moving his money. He was doing it for every customer that had booked with them and are waiting in some cases for their holiday of a lifetime...maybe the roayl bank of "scotland" should manage thier money better and they would notbe in this mess we don't have the same issues with the banke of "england"
4

sonny 1969,

west bromwich 12/10/2008 13:18:53
maybe you would feel different if you had a virgin holiday booked and it was a holiday you had saved hard for. richard would not have lost money personally his customers would as if you had read the article you would have worked out. my family are all going to florida in 6 weeks time...so stuff those people i assume is your principle? i have holiday insurance but would still have lost my holiday this year.
5

Jamiem,

13/10/2008 09:13:33
3,4 Here's a thought - you could have spent the money you got back through the ABTA programme or your insurance on another holiday!

In the grand scheme of things, protecting thousands of jobs (and by extension helping the UK's economy) matters more than your holiday. And I speak as someone who also has a Virgin holiday booked for later this year.


 

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