Richard Branson could launch a rival to Uber

‘We should be competing with Uber,’ Virgin billionaire has said

Uber staff track the first regulated UberX ride in Australia on October 30, 2015 in Canberra, Australia

Uber has been banned in numerous cities across the world Photo: Getty

The billionaire, who has built a conglomerate spanning transport, financial services and telecommunications, said his company should be involved in the sharing economy, competing with the likes of Uber and home-renting service Airbnb.

“I quite often say to our team, ‘We should be competing with Airbnb. We should be competing with Uber'”
Sir Richard Branson

“I quite often say to our team, ‘We should be competing with Airbnb. We should be competing with Uber. We’ve got the brand,’” Sir Richard told Mashable. “Maybe one day we’ll set up an alternative.”

The Brit was an early investor in Uber, telling Bloomberg recently that it’s “ridiculous how well it’s done”.

He has also put money into Uber rival Hailo, and has regularly spoken about the benefits of disrupting a market “that has remained unchanged for many years”.

Last month Sir Richard urged London’s traditional taxi businesses to “accept” that there is a new model in the industry, and they must either “embrace it or change what they are doing”.

“You cannot stop progress and you can’t turn the clock back,” he said, speaking at the Virgin StartUp Foodpreneur event in London. “Once you’ve let the genie out of the box and people are benefiting from something, you can’t put it back in.

Sir Richard Branson

Sir Richard Branson  Photo: Rex

“Countries that try to ban Uber are holding themselves back,” he said. “It’s like banning Google because it’s competing with education. You must embrace it.”

Uber has been banned in a number of cities across the world over fears it is anti-competitive, as drivers can charge lower fares than traditional cabs.

 

Source: The Telegraph

 

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