Richard Branson's daughter Holly has announced she's giving up her job as a junior doctor to work in the family firm, Virgin. The 26-year-old, who qualified last year after five years of study at University College London, will begin learning the ropes at her father's multinational during an apprenticeship which covers all areas of the business.
"I'm leaving medicine next Tuesday to start working with my dad," Holly tells a columnist in the Daily Mail. "He's just offered me such an exciting opportunity I couldn't turn it down."
When, as a teenager, Holly announced her desire to become a doctor, her father supported her decision. The tycoon has always wanted his daughter and her brother Sam to be involved in Virgin, though.
Holly will be able to use her medical knowledge during one of her first tasks in her new role - helping advise on the entrepreneur's bid to run the GP polyclinics planned as part of the reformation of the National Health Service.
While she may be taking time out as a GP for the moment, Holly isn't ruling out a return to her chosen vocation altogether. "I trained very hard to get into medicine, so I won't say I'll never go back to it," she insists. "But I want to give this new project my all so I'm deferring my medical training for a year."
Photo: © Alphapress.com
