Fantastic, for maybe 40K worth of advisors bills Branson launches an audacious bid. This is true British spirit. I take my hat off. This is why Branson is a billionaire and I am not.

Northern Virgin has my vote all day long.

nick, crantock, cornwall

Let Branson group bid in the normal way if they wish to win Northern Rock and stop trying to short change the share holders. Norther Rock is still a sound company with assets they need to bite the bullet and reduce the wage bill.

C. Fisher, Newcastle upon tyne,

in my opinion sir Branson saw a good chance of taking over an already helpless Northern Rock, which will go under the Virgin ''empires'' name. whether it is a bargain or not time will tell, but i wouldn't compare it with NTL - ''virgin media'' current situation. I think there is a pretty good chance -not telling that its the only one- of rock's ressurrection under branson's control with AIG's help that is. Only think i don't understand is how it have a 50% share with only 1 billion injection whereas Citi group who was a previous bidder is expected to inject more. Virgin Money sounds good, question now - will it cope?

Marcos, London, United Kingdom

"Virgin Money" now has the opportunity to get onto the high St!

Nice move!

Lakshmi, London, UK

NTL was a reasonably inept company before Branson took over, now its an absolute shambles, God help the savers at northern Rock.

preddo53, leeds, UK

i guess richard branson is very clever. He uses his tactics carfefully where he will only steer foolish shareholders in to his game. Richard for once has come out of his shell, and this time he has stepped in the mortgage market. good luck!

PATEL, bolton, Gtr manchester

It would be a disaster for Newcastle if Northern Rock left the city. I have looked everywhere but found no comment as to what would happen to head office and its thousands of employees if this Virgin bid went through. Does anyone know?

Alan Gold, London,

The consortium seems to have a bargain.
20% of Uk mortgages,100 billion pound of Mortgages,Which the share holders helped,backed and supported.With a profit of 80 Billion over the next 10 years.Sir Branson has a bargain
and 'Will be laughing all the way to the bank!!!
I wonder if we'll now get a queue,for Opening new accounts in Virgin'N' Rock. Would love to see the media show that all over the World.
.Bob In London

bobby, London, Uk

A very clever move by Richard Branson - he would gain a ready made major stake in the mortgage market at a bargain basement price. Shareholders would be foolish to support dilution on such advantageous terms for VIrgin. The business is actually worth far more than his 265p offer and shouldn't be sold off precipitously in a fire sale. After mishandling of the situation by the BoE /FSA/Government destroyed so much shareholder value the company - and share price - should be given time to recover.

Graham Whitehead, CObham, Surrrey

he wants it cheap

chris, norwich, norfolk

Richard Branson is all talk and nothing more than just a very good "marketing man". Going to space is easier than to rebuild Northern Rock. Branson a banker? Unlikely.

george, london, uk

A rebranding & change of management at Northern Rock is mandatory for the survival of this institution.

Richard Branson has a long history of commercial successes in a variety of difficult industry segments.

The sooner the better & good fortune to Sir Richard

Richard, Bucharest,

Whether Northern is renamed Virgin Money or not, this has to be good news for all involved. C'mon Sir Richard - close the deal...

James C, Newcastle, England

I'm sorry, I don't quite understand. Virgin's group of five will invest £1bn, but according to your report other banks are expected to provide £20bn. How can Virgin claim control with such a small stake ?

I also thought that when banks were bought, the balance sheets of the buyer were examined by the authorities. But from what I have read over the past few years Virgin is effectively an off-shore company with little obligation to provide pre & post tax results.

It smacks of publicity oriented opportunism to me, but please, someone tell me where I'm wrong.

Nick, St Ouen, France