Virgin Care Ltd runs 400 NHS and local authority services across primary care, intermediate care, community services, and social care. However, it is accused of "cherrypicking" the most profitable services while leaving expensive and complex cases to the local NHS. The company uses a complex structure of holding companies in the UK and British Virgin Islands to avoid paying UK taxes, with profits loaned through debt to holding companies. This allows Richard Branson and other directors to profit while presenting the appearance that Virgin Care pays its UK taxes.

3. Virgin
Care Ltd
runs 400
NHS and
local
authority
services

4. Virgin Care cherrypicks services
Primary
Care
e.g.
GP Surgeries Intermediate
Care
e.g.
Physiotherapy
Community
Services
e.g.
Norfolk Prisons
Social Care
e.g.
Leaning
Difficulties
Cherrypicking leaves the heavy lifting to local NHS, which can’t drop the
expensive work or turn away patients with complex problems.

5. Uses Limited Liability Partnerships including:
Virgin Care Coventry LLP
Virgin Care Leeds LLP
Virgin Care Liverpool LLP
Also operates as:
Virgin Care Services Ltd
VH Community Services Ltd
Virgin Care Corporate Services Ltd
Virgin Care Provider Services Ltd

7. Virgin Care Ltd
Virgin Group Holdings Ltd
(British Virgin Islands)
Richard Branson & Family
Virgin Healthcare
Holdings (UK)
12 other holding
companies
VGH structure is designed so Virgin Care is unlikely to pay
tax in the UK in the foreseeable future
Branson is worth in
excess of £2.7billion
The Bransons have donated £70,000 to the Tory Party
No employees – just highly
paid Directors

8. This paper debt is then loaded on to a
new company’s balance sheet.
Virgin Group Holdings Ltd
(British Virgin Islands)
VGH loves setting up new companies with a
large amount of debt that it lends through its
holding companies.

9. And that is exactly how Virgin Care works….

10. Which chases more NHS and LA contracts
Loans money to
Virgin Healthcare Holdings Ltd
Who has debt on its books + pays
interest to VGH, so pays no UK tax
Passes income to VHH
Which holds
Virgin Group Holdings Ltd
(British Virgin Islands)

11. Since 2010 Virgin Healthcare has made a ‘loss’ every year.
2016 it had a retained loss of almost £1.5million.
The loss occurred due to its £1.24m debt to Virgin Group
Holdings on which it paid interest of £228k.
Virgin Healthcare Holdings Ltd

12. So, when Virgin Care says on its web site,
“Virgin Care is a UK company based in the
UK. We always have and always will pay
our UK taxes in full.”
It is being rather disingenuous.
Virgin Healthcare Holdings Ltd

13. VIRGIN HEALTHCARE HOLDINGS

14. 1st up: Virgin Group Holdings Ltd
This is Branson’s parent company
and is the majority shareholder in
Virgin Care.

15. 2nd Assura Services Ltd
In 2010 Virgin Care took over the health care
provision of Assura to access the lucrative
NHS market.
• Assura itself also cherrypicks NHS contracts.
Cherrypicking

16. 3rd Edward Bartholomew Johnson
Chief Executive at Virgin Care.
• Estimated personal worth of £17.2m.
• Presumably he’s the Director who earned a
basic salary of £300,295 in 2013/14.

17. 4th Vivienne Margaret McVey
Strategy & Transformation Director at Virgin
Care.
• She develops new NHS contracts and
‘partnerships’.
• 2013, she represented Virgin on the Tory
committee which wrote the NHS
Constitution!

18. and, 5th Karen Millen
Legal Director at Virgin Care.
• Her Virgin Care legal team is currently suing
the NHS and Surrey County Council after it
lost out on a £82million contract in Surrey.

21. Follow SW Norfolk Labour: @SWNCLP
Join Labour: https://join.labour.org.uk/
Follow: Downham Market Labour Party

22. Confused State - The Dark Contenent by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution
license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100453
Artist: http://incompetech.com/
• Richard Murphy, Chartered Accountant, www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog
• www.virgincare.co.uk
• www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/05/debt-spiral-destroy-nhs-health-social-care-act-bill
• https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk
• www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/21/ow-lucrative--deals-go-to-firms-that-use-tax-havens
• www.ft.com/content/297e7714-089f-11e7-97d1-5e720a26771b
• https://companycheck.co.uk/director/915838280/MR-EDWARD-BARTHOLOMEW-JOHNSON/summary
Sources used
Music used