Virgin Group Plc’s tentative entry into the personal computer business a year ago may have seemed a bit of a non-event but Richard Branson’s empire feels the growing lure of multimedia and is trying again, this time in a firm partnership with ICL Plc. It has bought machines OEM from ICL in the past, but it also took IBM Corp, Intel Corp and other machines: this time it has formalised the agreement with ICL, which will become the manufacturer of desktop and notebook computers bearing the Virgin logo. We chose ICL because it is a multi-national company with its roots in the UK but with coverage which gives us the chance to expand in the Far East and the far west, Virgin said. The main thrust of the agreement will be to satisfy the consumer demand for multimedia systems for home and educational use. ICL also receives the right to use the Virgin logo by agreement, on specified personal computers and other hardware.
