The chairman of easyJet is to step down this summer after guiding the airline to the brink of the FTSE 100 Index.

Richard Branson today saw his Virgin brand extend to 9.4 million UK households following the acquisition of his Virgin Mobile business by cable giant NTL.

Directors of Virgin Mobile have been told by institutional investors not to accept any takeover bid from cable giant NTL that is less than 400p a share, it was reported today.

Virgin Mobile today kicked off plans for a London stock market flotation in a move valuing the company at up to £1bn (€1.5bn).