Richard Branson beefs up Virgin Group with heavy-hitting advisory board

The transition of Richard Branson’s Virgin Group from maverick business upstart to corporate giant appears to be gathering pace, with Branson announcing the appointment of six corporate heavy-hitters to a special advisory board.

According to a report in The Times, the new advisory board will be chaired by Claudio Costamagna, the former head of Goldman Sachs’ investment banking business in Europe and a current non-executive director on the Virgin Group board.

It will also include former US utility boss Bill Morrow; a former UK government minister Baroness Morgan; a former CEO of Cadbury, Todd Stitzer; and the former chief executive and chairman of Glaxo Wellcome, Richard Sykes.

The Times says the advisory board will provide advice on economic issues, strategy and investment through the chairman of the Virgin Group board of directors, Peter Norris.

While Branson remains very much the public face of Virgin – and the star of most of its publicity stunts – his role in the day-to-day operations of Virgin Group has diminished greatly since he stepped down as chief executive in 2007.

Former food executive Stephen Murphy now leads the company as chief executive, reporting to Norris as chairman of the board.

“We are pleased to have secured such a high-level and skilled advisory committee to work with Virgin. We recognise there are so many complex challenges in building a diversified international investment group.”

While the appointment of the advisory board is seen as another step in the “corporatisation” of the company, The Times article says it should not be seen as a signal that Branson may be preparing to step away from the group, or start the process of succession.

Last week, Branson was busy opening Virgin Galactic’s first commercial spaceport in the US state of New Mexico.

The company has reportedly taken $US50 million in deposits for its first flights.