Branson: 'I would have saved most Northern Rock jobs'

Richard Branson said today that he could have saved most Northern Rock jobs if Virgin Money had been able to take over the stricken bank.

The mortgage-lender was nationalised on Friday after the Government said it was the best way to secure the return of billions of pounds of public funds.

Branson told Sky News: “We would have saved most of the jobs, which sadly is unlikely to be the case under nationalisation.”

The entrepreneur said the costs of mounting the bid takeover bid were “considerable” but he now wanted to move forward to build-up Virgin Money.

The UK government insisted that nationalisation of the bank was a temporary measure and it would eventually be returned to private ownership.