Richard Branson and Anita Roddick are two of the most famous entrepreneurial English figures. Sir Richard Branson was born on July 18, 1950 and is an English business man and investor. Anita Roddick was a British-born international woman, human right activist and environmental campaigner. In 2005, a Shell liveWIRE survey classified Richard Branson as the most inspirational role model. Anita Roddick was classified the third in the same survey. It is an excellent idea to compare a male and a female figure and look for what made them succeed in their specific industry. Analysing two of the most inspirational English figures will help me find out the English entrepreneurial culture.
Background.
Richard Branson grew up in an English family that supported and gave him a lot of independence. His mother helped him launch his first business "Student" magazine. Richard and his friends published the first issue on January 26th, 1968. The Virgin Records story started with "Student" (Branson, 2014). The first time the "Virgin," name came into the spotlight was in 1972 when, Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell and Tom Newman launched Virgin Records (Southern & Richardson, 1996). The name originated from a colleague's remark that everyone involved was a novice: "We're complete virgins at business" (Branson, 2007). Virgin Records launched by selling records by post undercutting high-street retailers (Milmo, 2012).
Anita Roddick was born on October 23, 1942, in an Italian family in Littlehampton, England. Her family owned a café and she was raised in an entrepreneurial environment. She started her first business with her husband. They looked for a business in earnest; something they could run together and still have some free time to spend with their two daughters. They found a Victorian house for sale, purchased it and began a bed-and breakfast (Roddick, 2005, p.
