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ir Richard Branson today threw down the gauntlet to some of
the nation’s most creative young minds to help make Virgin
Atlantic greener.
For the first time in his career, the President of Virgin Atlantic gave
students from a UK university - the University of Derby - the chance to help
shape the future of the Group, by making Virgin Atlantic even more
environmentally friendly.
As part of his visit to the University of Derby to officially open its new £21m
Markeaton Street site, Sir Richard set the University’s 23,500 students a
Design Challenge to come up with new ideas to further the company’s aims
in this area.
Last September, Sir Richard pledged all profits from his Virgin rail and air
interests - representing £1.6bn over ten years - to tackle climate
change.Other initiatives include reducing the ‘carried weight’ on planes,
launching a partnership with Boeing in a quest to become the most sustainable>
airline in the world, and introducing Fairtrade tea and
coffee onboard flights.
But Virgin believes more can still be done - and Sir Richard hopes
Derby’s students have the answer. Now the opportunity to work
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with Virgin Atlantic's Creative Design team on placement
is up for grabs.
During the official opening this morning, Sir Richard was introduced
to a handful of students who accepted the challenge on
behalf of their peers.
He said: “Today I set you the following challenge - to improve further the
environmental performance of Virgin Atlantic, so as to create the sustainable
airline of the future.”
The challenge has been set to relate to a whole host of undergraduate,
postgraduate and other courses at the University, across the disciplines of
arts, design, technology, education, health, sciences, business, computing
and law as well as our degree courses on offer at Buxton, including
hospitality and tourism.
Some ideas which students could consider include:
● A lightweight seat to improve fuel efficiency
● Virgin Atlantic uniforms made from recycled materials
● Energy efficient facilities at airport terminals.
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