Branson: ‘Question what the criminal record is but don’t write someone off’

Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin empire has adopted a policy of hiring former offenders to give them a “second chance at life”.

Chris is one of 25 people working across the company having spent five months in prison on an assault charge.

He said: “I came out ten times more motivated than I have ever been in my life. Because of what I’d put my family through, I wanted to make up for the suffering I had caused.”

Chris attended a Virgin Trains recruitment fair after being identified through its ex-offender programme.

He was taken on a train- ing apprenticeship, then worked on board trains, at stations and is now in engineering.

Sir Richard said: “I’ve long felt that people should not be judged by the worst moment in their lives, or by the poor choices they’ve made when the options were awful from the start. So I’ve encouraged our businesses at Virgin to find ways to give people a better chance in life by training and employing workers with a criminal conviction.

“Virgin Trains has been pioneering the hiring of ex-offenders. They’ve been given a second chance at life. At present, roughly 44 per cent of people leaving prison re-offend within a year. That’s a staggering and, frankly, unacceptable figure indicative of society’s many large and small failures when it comes to rehabilitation and re-integration of those with a criminal past.”

“More than 90,000 people are currently serving time across the UK. More than 75,000 are released every year, yet most face a mountain of obstacles. By all means question what the criminal record is but don’t write someone off. You won’t get someone more motivated than someone who has limited opportunities.”