BREXIT hits Richard Branson Hard as Virgin Group Loses Third of its Value – Corpus VEC Institutes | Virtual Ethical Careers Corpus

We’ve lost a THIRD of our value because of Brexit and cancelled a deal worth 3,000 jobs, says Virgin boss Richard Branson

• Sir Richard wants Parliament to take a second look at the EU referendum 
• He believes Leave voters did not realise ‘what a mess’ they would cause 
• Claims Brexit campaigners misled public over consequences of leaving
• Virgin’s value has plunged and he says UK is ‘heading towards disaster’

Being part of the EU guarantees no tariffs on trade on goods and services and the free movement of workers, without the hassle of visas or work permits.

“We’re not any worse than anybody else but I suspect we’ve lost a third of our value,” Richard Branson told the “Good Morning Britain” programme. 

The impact of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union or Brexit was swift and painful for Richard Branson, founder and chairman of Virgin Group. He said on Tuesday that his group which owns shares in various companies including Virgin Media and Virgin Trains, had lost about a third of its value since last week’s vote by Britons to leave the European Union and had cancelled a deal costing some 3,000 jobs.

“We’re not any worse than anybody else but I suspect we’ve lost a third of our value,” he told the “Good Morning Britain” programme.

“We were about to do a very big deal, we’ve cancelled that deal that would have involved 3,000 jobs.”

Being part of the EU guarantees no tariffs on trade on goods and services and the free movement of workers, without the hassle of visas or work permits. Now that it is leaving, Britain will have to first negotiate its exit, which could take years, and then renegotiate new relations with Europe, which could take even longer.

With so much uncertainty looming for so long and financial markets crashing, a lot of business is suddenly in limbo. Some companies are even looking to pull back.

Multinationals that have chosen the U.K. as a base for operations across the EU are expected to reconsider some of their operations in Britain. Global banks like JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and HSBC have said thousands could move to the mainland.

Virgin Founder: Sir Richard Branson has called on Parliament to take a second look at the referendum

Sir Richard Branson revealed today that his businesses have lost a third of their value after Brexit, adding that the decision to leave the EU has cancelled a deal worth 3,000 jobs.

The Virgin founder has called on Parliament to take a second look at the referendum and believes that those who voted Leave did not realise ‘what a mess’ the move would cause.

He claimed Brexit campaigners misled the public over the consequences of leaving and said the UK is ‘heading towards a disaster’ – insisting people deserve the chance to vote again.

Sir Richard, 65, told ITV’s Good Morning Britain today: ‘I don’t believe the public realised what a mess their vote would cost.

‘Bank shares, some of them have gone done by as much as 50 per cent, two trillion got wiped off the global stock markets, the pound has collapsed to its lowest level in 30 years, and we will go into recession unless we can actually send signals to the world very quickly that we’re going to do something about it.’

Speaking to presenters Susanna Reid and DailyMail.com U.S. Editor-at-Large Piers Morgan about his companies, Sir Richard added: ‘We’re not any worse than anybody else, but I suspect we’ve lost a third of our value which is dreadful for people in the workplace.’

He continued: ‘We were about to do a very big deal, we cancelled that deal, that would have involved 3,000 jobs, and that’s happening all over the country.’

Prime Minister David Cameron’s spokesman has said that last Thursday’s vote, which produced a 52-48 majority for Brexit, was ‘decisive’ and that the Government’s focus was on delivering on it.

“This country is going to go into recession,” Sir Richard said.

TV appearance: Sir Richard and supermodel Tyra Banks (left), with whom he is working on a business pitching competition, with DailyMail.com U.S. Editor-at-Large Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid on (right) on ITV today

Sir Richard (pictured with Ms Banks) claimed Brexit campaigners misled the public over the consequences of leaving and said the UK is ‘heading towards a disaster’ – insisting people deserve the chance to vote again.

But Sir Richard said: ‘When Brexiters told the public that people were exaggerating, that there would be a financial meltdown, I think it’s been proven that they were not exaggerating.

‘One of the reasons that I think there should be a second referendum, particularly once the terms are known about what our entry into Europe’s going to cost us, (is that) the public are going to have all the facts at their fingertips. Those same 17 (million) people will be able to vote again.

“We’re heading towards a disaster” – Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Founder

‘We’re not going against it, what we’re simply saying is the fact that Brexiters told people were inaccurate. You’ve already got Nigel Farage saying the £350million that’s going to go into the health service was not true.

‘You’ve got other people who are for Brexit saying “yes, we accept we cannot stop immigration if we do this”.

‘So all I’m saying is, look, this country is going to go into recession, two of the worst days ever, banks being pounded means they’re not going to lend money, we’re going to go into recession.

Going down: This share graph for Virgin Money Holdings (UK) shows how the price has dropped by more than a third since the Brexit decision was announced last Friday

‘And that was based on people being told this would not happen, “do not worry, the fact we’re going to lose a 500-million marketplace, don’t worry about it, everything’s going to be fine”.

‘It is not fine – we’re heading towards a disaster and therefore in business, if you realise you’ve made a bad decision, you change it.

‘Now we’re not just saying overrule it, we’re saying let those people who voted have another chance, and that’s democratic.’

Sir Richard has already warned that the Leave vote has ‘opened a Pandora’s Box of negative consequences’ for Britain.

A petition on the parliamentary website calling for a second referendum has attracted more than 3.9million signatures, though it was revealed on Sunday that nearly 80,000 names have been struck off after being found to be fraudulent.

Asked whether the issue of a re-run referendum was discussed at Cabinet, Mr Cameron’s spokesman said: ‘That is not remotely on the cards. There was a decisive result and the focus of the Government is to get on and deliver that.’

MailOnline has asked Virgin for clarification as to what exactly has lost a third of its value, but Virgin Money Holdings (UK) has seen its share price drop a third since Brexit was announced last Friday.