Coronavirus

[Travs]

The one on Corporation Street where you went upstairs.... wasn't that Tower Records?

Certainly remember going upstairs in Tower Records very early 2000's to buy rave tickets...

[Oracle]

It is a rich airline compared to most of the US airlines!
If 300 million is few assets, I’d be happy to have only a few assets, as I think would you!
But losing tens a year isn’t good.

Airlines are a dreadful business. Too much undercutting, by bankrupt airlines.
Monarch I think was stupid.
There is a generation of people who will pay 25 percent on top for a service with big seats and frills.
Servicing ex pats and older sun seekers.

So it could have been smaller but profitable.
Monarch tried to compete in a race to the bottom.

Virgin has done OK by staying a
Premium service, but they are vulnerable to every world shock.

Oh. So not because it is a loss making airline with few assets?

And I do like Willie Walsh!

~~~~

International Airlines Group, the owner of Virgin Atlantic’s bitter rival British Airways, is expected by industry analysts to be highly unlikely to seek any government support.


Willie Walsh, IAG’s chief executive, said last month it was not for taxpayers to support airlines when the shareholders of those airlines were not prepared to do so.

(Edited)

[Oracle]

The one on Corporation Street where you went upstairs.... wasn't that Tower Records?

Certainly remember going upstairs in Tower Records very early 2000's to buy rave tickets...

This was definitely Virgin. It was wacky and new.
As indeed was
The idea of listening to your own choice of album , it was unheard of till he did it.
I can’t remember whether it was a full flight of steps or just a handful.
I just remember steps. The window side and later right hand wall had about 3-4 seats each, all with own turntable.( right hand had album boxes till then) I’m speaking of mid seventies. The days Steve hillage struck out on his own from gong.

[Stagger]

SMART targets are used regularly.

How smart was the governments target of the number of test that would be carried out buy the end of April??


The UK government has pledged to do 100,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of April, but was managing about 20,000 with a week to go.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/52382786

Oh dear. Maybe some of the political figures should engage brain before opening mouth.

Like Oracle mentioned, too many counting their pensions pots and not focusing on the here and now.

[Oracle]

The critics should engage brain before open mouth.

There is good reason that journalists are now the least trusted and respected group

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/52382786

Oh dear. Maybe some of the political figures should engage brain before opening mouth.

Like Oracle mentioned, too many counting their pensions pots and not focusing on the here and now.

[PeteS]

The one on Corporation Street where you went upstairs.... wasn't that Tower Records?

Certainly remember going upstairs in Tower Records very early 2000's to buy rave tickets...

Yes that was Tower records - now urban outfitters.

The original virgin store from the 1970s was the other end of corporation St. Down by the law courts and central hall as was. I remember it being there but was too young to really count myself a customer. I did frequent the Bull St shop which had a basement with old sofas where you could hang out and listen to whatever they were plugging at the time. Virgin was a breath of fresh air at that time - the only place I could readily get hold of what were then (and probably still are) relatively obscure LPs. I think me and a couple of mates probably bought nearly all their early US punk, psychodelia and garage (not the modern one - it used to mean something different then!) When short of cash, which was most of the time, we would take to hiding any rare records in obscure sections - easy listening didn't see much action - and then picking them up when we got some money.
Most Saturday afternoons were spent in there, followed by a mooch around Oasis Market and a pot of tea at Woolworths until we got thrown out. Pre-pub age, this was about as exciting as it got in Brum..

[Oracle]

You remember oasis?
Was it still jossticks and afghans when you were there?

Yes that was Tower records - now urban outfitters.

The original virgin store from the 1970s was the other end of corporation St. Down by the law courts and central hall as was. I remember it being there but was too young to really count myself a customer. I did frequent the Bull St shop which had a basement with old sofas where you could hang out and listen to whatever they were plugging at the time. Virgin was a breath of fresh air at that time - the only place I could readily get hold of what were then (and probably still are) relatively obscure LPs. I think me and a couple of mates probably bought nearly all their early US punk, psychodelia and garage (not the modern one - it used to mean something different then!) When short of cash, which was most of the time, we would take to hiding any rare records in obscure sections - easy listening didn't see much action - and then picking them up when we got some money.
Most Saturday afternoons were spent in there, followed by a mooch around Oasis Market and a pot of tea at Woolworths until we got thrown out. Pre-pub age, this was about as exciting as it got in Brum..

[Witton Park]

And there was I thinking you were a thinking man , not a consumer of any lefty tosh you come upon. Ah well.

Now study actual history, the two situations could not be more different.

BA waged a continuous campaign of dirty tricks used against virgin to undermine their failing airline, eg stealing hacked information from their customer database to switch sell customers, even claiming some virgin flights were cancelled. Branson had every right to be angry.
He was also libelled personally years before by lord king. Memories die hard.


Also funding BA would have distorted competition, and Branson was right to contest it.
Branson has had to fight too much of this, eg Competing in the US is inherently unfair because of trying to compete with chapter 11 airlines who don’t pay their bills,

Now is completely different.
Virgin has a problem because governments shut it down.
Government created the problem. Government must solve it.

I'm aware of the early 90s. Around the time BA's profits were in the 100s of millions and Virgin were trading at a loss.
The cost of the early 90s shenanigans were a few million an yes dirty tricks, and they paid for them, but Branson was an early form of virtue signaller. My airline is much better, more ethical etc than your airline.

Branson didn't leave it there. He tried for years to take them for 100s of millions in the States and it got kicked out.

In the mid 90s BA were on of my share "punts" when I first started to dabble. I did OK. Bought in, sold at a decent profit a couple of years later and then managed to pick them up cheap not long after and sell again at a profit.

My beef was how BA had been shafted by the EU Commission, Commissioner Kinnock at the time. BA led an action against Air France at the ECJ along with Lufthansa.
They won.
By a signature post case, Kinnock retrospectively reversed about 4 years of legal process.

[Travs]

Yes that was Tower records - now urban outfitters.

The original virgin store from the 1970s was the other end of corporation St. Down by the law courts and central hall as was. I remember it being there but was too young to really count myself a customer. I did frequent the Bull St shop which had a basement with old sofas where you could hang out and listen to whatever they were plugging at the time. Virgin was a breath of fresh air at that time - the only place I could readily get hold of what were then (and probably still are) relatively obscure LPs. I think me and a couple of mates probably bought nearly all their early US punk, psychodelia and garage (not the modern one - it used to mean something different then!) When short of cash, which was most of the time, we would take to hiding any rare records in obscure sections - easy listening didn't see much action - and then picking them up when we got some money.
Most Saturday afternoons were spent in there, followed by a mooch around Oasis Market and a pot of tea at Woolworths until we got thrown out. Pre-pub age, this was about as exciting as it got in Brum..

Yes that's just where i thought i remembered TOwer being!

The Bull Street one, was that the one almost on the corner of Corporation Street, opposite where the Wetherspoons is now? in the late 90's/early 2000's was also a rave/dance music outlet downstairs, and had loads of decks set up downstairs to try-before-you-buy the vinyl.

I'm sure at that time it was called something like The Depot, then at some point it changed to Tempest Records... gone now of course...

[Graham Breeze]

...relatively obscure LPs... When short of cash, which was most of the time, we would take to hiding any rare records in obscure sections ...

So this is before Napster?