Quotes from Guardian Article 16/11/2011
..he is actively encouraging his Virgin group of companies to employ people freshly released from prison, and even some who are still inside and working towards release. “Everybody deserves a second chance,“…
….”A lot of people end up in there [prison] because they’ve had a lot of bad luck in their lives.”…
…For the last two years, one of the UK’s wealthiest and most high-profile businessmen has been suggesting to the managing directors of hundreds of Virgin companies that they take on ex-offenders….
…He met representatives from Australian transport company Toll, which over the past decade has employed about 460 ex-prisoners, none of whom are known to have reoffended so far. Branson was deeply impressed. “As soon as I got back to England, I contacted the MDs of Virgin companies and said to them that we must do the same; to try to take on as many ex-convicts as possible,” he recalls….
…He adds: “I’ve had people at Virgin who have been caught stealing and I’ve given them a second chance. We had one kid who was taking albums sent to us by record companies and selling them to a secondhand record shop. By giving him a second chance he became one of the best employees we ever had.…
…”It’s about awareness, they [the government] have to make employers aware of the positives of taking on people who have been in prison.”…