If we bail out billionaires, the public must receive something in return

Brands can be tarnished too. What is happening in Virgin Media has nothing to do with what is happening in Virgin Money or Virgin Atlantic. But in brand terms it matters a great deal, writes Hamish McRae

Happier times: Sir Richard Branson before Virgin Trains lost its West Coast Main Line franchise (Virgin Trains)

Why on earth should taxpayers rescue billionaires who live in tax havens?

One of the things that happens in a crisis is that companies show their true colours. Some keep their staff on full salaries, while others lay them off. Some help their suppliers through the downturn, while others say bye bye. Some do their utmost to keep serving their customers, while others drop the ones that are least profitable. And some go running to governments for a bailout, while others dip into reserves and keep going.

So where does Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin group fit in on the scale of behaviour? He is seeking a bailout for Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia is under administration, Virgin Media is grappling with a massive outage in the UK, and Virgin Money has just halted its plans to shut branches. More generally, what are the wider lessons for the reputation of global enterprises?