British business maverick Sir Richard Branson jetted into South Africa in late June to add the country to the growing list of Virgin Mobile customers. BRITISH BUSINESS MAVERICK Sir Richard Branson jetted into South Africa in late June to add the country to the growing list of Virgin Mobile customers, which includes the UK, the US, Canada, Australia and, most recently, France.

By bringing "better value and service" to these markets, the world`s first MVNO has accrued 8.5 million customers worldwide, and Branson believes that it can continue this success here.

After all, as a value-added service provider, it`s all about the brand, a brand that South Africans are already familiar with, through Virgin Active, Virgin Atlantic and, soon, Virgin Money ventures.

And although a deal with NTL in April saw Branson`s 72% stake in Virgin Mobile, through the Virgin Group, shrink to 10%, he is, undoubtedly, still in the driving seat of the Virgin juggernaut.

He retains complete ownership and control of the Virgin Brand, an empire made up of 350 companies in the air and rail transport, telecoms, cosmetics, entertainment and financial services industries, among a myriad of others.

This has brought him not only fame, but fortune, too: he was ranked ninth in the (UK) Sunday Times Rich List 2006, estimated to be worth just over 3 billion pounds.

"Because I don`t see Virgin as a company, but as a way of life and I fully enjoy it, I don`t think I`ll ever retire," he`s been quoted as saying.

But he has had a change in focus of late: "In the next stage of my life I want to use our business skills to tackle social issues around the world," he`s said.

"I don`t think I`ve changed enorm-ously in my business goals. I still want to do things I`m proud of and that make a great difference," he tells iWeek. Today, however, he has a lot more "spare resources to fight the global warming situation" than he did when he first went into business at the age of 16, over 30 years ago. "I`m in the camp that believes the world is spinning out of control, and I`m in a position to do more about it than others," he says.

For instance, Branson`s Virgin Group has a 51% stake in Virgin Atlantic as well as interests in Virgin Cargo, Virgin Nigeria and Australia`s Virgin Blue, with a combined fleet of almost 100 aircraft. "We use around 700 million gallons of fuel a year between the four airlines. I hope that over the next five to six years we can replace some or all of that (with ethanol)."

Tired of skyrocketing jet fuel prices, Branson has said that they are going to start building cellulosic ethanol plants to make fuel that is derived from the waste products of plants in their search for alternative fuel sources.

Branson is often cited as being one of the most influential business leaders of recent times, and jokes that although he was born with a big head ("My poor mother," he quips.) "when people say they look up to you, you have a weight on your shoulders. It`s easy to let people down." His own heroes include the ubiquitous Nelson Mandela" rel=tag>Nelson Mandela. "I`ve got to know him well over the years, and he`s lived his life impeccably. The world needs lots more people like him." He also cites ex US president Jimmy Carter for his "wonderful work in trying to sort out the problems of the world".

But having a high profile has its advantages, and as Branson is an altitude-loving man, space travel, not surprisingly, is top of his "things I still want to do" list

In September 2004 he announced the signing of a deal under which a new space tourism company, Virgin Galactic, would licence the technology behind SpaceShipOne to take paying passengers into suborbital space. According to media reports, the group plans to make flights available to the public by late 2007, with tickets priced at $200 000. Branson says he and his two children will be on the first flight - six spacecraft, each of which can carry seven passengers.

When asked that Oprah standard, "What do you know for sure?", especially when it relates to business, Branson responds: "What is business? Simply a group of people who want to make a difference for other people, and you can either make a positive difference or make no difference at all.

"If you compromise, it won`t be successful. The key to business is having a great group of people who are 100% committed to what they`re doing. But at the same time, I`m a great believer in not taking ourselves too seriously," is the typical Branson reply.