Furious rail chief lets rip over ‘hysterical’ Branson
Virgin boss under attack for leaving workers terrified of losing their jobs Stores and Coalition in talks over Sundays
TIM O’TOOLE, chief executive of transport company FirstGroup, has launched an unprecedented attack on Sir Richard Branson, branding the Virgin Rail boss hysterical and accusing him of spreading fear among his workers.
O’Toole was speaking after FirstGroup beat Virgin Rail to win the West Coast main line franchise last week. Branson branded the decision ‘insane’ and warned that it could hit the quality of the service and cost jobs.
But O’Toole, in an interview with Financial Mail, accused the billionaire entrepreneur of being a poor loser.
‘Branson has lost and he is off the field now,’ he said. ‘What he is saying is simply not true. We are not going to be cutting staff – staff levels will be about the same.
‘But there are two things which are particularly outrageous. Had he won, he was planning to cut twice as much as he said we would have cut. And if he had won with his bid, he would have made a huge amount of money. Maybe that explains his hysteria.’
A spokesman for Virgin Trains said that Branson was not available for comment. But earlier in the week, Branson had said: ‘We submitted a strong and deliverable bid based on improving customers’ experience, increased investment and sustained innovation. To have bid more would have involved dramatic cuts to customer quality and considerable fare rises which we were unwilling to entertain.
‘We also did not want to risk letting everybody down with almost certain bankruptcy at some time during the franchise as happened to GNER and National Express, which overbid on the East Coast main line.’
FirstGroup bid £5.5 billion for the 15-year franchise, about £700million more than Virgin. But analysts have estimated the final cost to FirstGroup could be as high as £10billion, fuelling fears that O’Toole’s company has overpaid and risks a financial disaster.
O’Toole said Branson had been knocking the workers at Virgin Rail, who had now been made to fear for their futures unnecessarily.
‘What Branson should be doing is thanking his hard-working employees and soothing them and not outrageously saying their jobs are under threat,’ he said.
O’Toole will be taking charge in December. One priority on his list will be the creation of a new ‘club class’, cuts to fares and a simplification of the fare structure on the route that links London to Manchester and Glasgow. He believes there is room to increase passengers by 35 per cent with new trains. BIG retailers including Asda have been holding regular talks with the Government about a permanent easing of Sunday trading after what they claim was the successful relaxation of the law during the Olympics.
Chief executive Andy Clarke told Financial Mail the supermarket giant was providing ‘regular feedback’ on the response of customers.
Asda is in favour of allowing big shops to open for longer than six hours on Sundays. The traditional restrictions also limit the opening times to between 10am and 6pm.
‘The extended hours have become more popular as time has moved on,’ Clarke said of trading in recent weeks.
He said talks were ongoing between Asda, many other retailers, a ‘number of trade bodies’ and the Government on the effects of the temporary lifting of restrictions.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles is understood to have an open mind about longer Sunday hours and trade bodies, including the Institute of Directors, have also supported it.
The Government passed emergency legislation to relax Sunday trading laws during the Olympics and Paralympics to encourage spending.
Shops of less than 3,000 sq ft are already allowed to open on Sunday for longer than six hours, a rule designed to protect smaller family-run shops from competition from the big chains.
Sainsbury’s boss Justin King opposes the plan. Those in favour, however, point out that Sainsbury’s has opened hundreds of convenience stores, many of which qualify as smaller shops.
The Olympics measure has been described as a ‘Trojan horse’, always intended to prepare the way for permanent change.
Ministers have denied the suggestion.