Future Retirement Success
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks

Future Retirement Success

Business

Richard Branson offers Alan Bates ‘well-earned’ break on private Caribbean island for holiday

by January 9, 2024
January 9, 2024
Richard Branson offers Alan Bates ‘well-earned’ break on private Caribbean island for holiday

Sir Richard Branson has invited Alan Bates, a key campaigner for justice for victims of the Post Office scandal, for a “well-earned” holiday to his private Caribbean island.

After the Virgin founder read an interview in which Bates joked, “If Richard Branson is reading this, I’d love a holiday,” Branson reached out via the newspaper to offer the gift. His message to Bates in full was:

Dear Alan, I did get the chance to read your moving interview in The Times, and we’d love to offer you and Suzanne a well-earned holiday on Necker Island — I can’t think of anyone who deserves a break more. Hopefully see you there. Best, Richard.

Bates, 69, said that he and his partner, Suzanne Sercombe, 68, have had to forgo holidays for many years due to their tireless work on the campaign. “Just recently we were renewing Suzanne’s passport and we realised that she didn’t have a single stamp in it,” Bates said.

Shai Weiss, the chief executive of Virgin Atlantic, also read the interview and has offered Bates and Sercombe first-class return tickets to the British Virgin Islands to visit Necker Island. They have also been offered a seven-day cruise by Virgin Voyages.

Bates, who ran a post office, has been campaigning for 20 years as part of the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance. He is portrayed on screen by the actor Toby Jones in the ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office.

Bates said the offer from Branson was “great” because “it’s somewhere I can get away from the phones and emails and lie around, and that suits us perfectly”. The couple do not yet have a date in mind.

Since the series debuted on January 1, Bates and the sub-postmasters’ decades-long fight for justice has received extra attention. “I think, for once, it’s actually grabbed the nation — and rightfully so. It deserves to. But it’s taken a long time to get to this point,” he told The Sunday Times.

Bates refused an OBE in this year’s honours list, saying it would be hypocritical while Paula Vennells, the former boss of the Post Office, still held her CBE, awarded for services to the Post Office. An online petition to strip Vennells of her CBE has now reached one million signatures.

In response to Branson’s offer Bates said he was amazed by the offer but he would make sure the holiday did not detract from the campaign.

Read more:
Richard Branson offers Alan Bates ‘well-earned’ break on private Caribbean island for holiday

0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
Income tax revenues soar to £264bn under a decade of Tories
next post
Nikki Haley urges Supreme Court to keep Trump on ballot, says she will beat him ‘fair and square’

You may also like

Holding the line: The King of Soho’s stand...

September 19, 2023

Tether Bashes WSJ Over Allegations of Faked Documents...

June 12, 2023

Over 90% of mid-sized businesses struggling to access...

June 26, 2023

HMRC faces backlash over six month closure of...

March 20, 2024

Rachel Reeves to lead Davos 2025 delegation in...

January 8, 2025

MMA Shorts Hayabusa

December 20, 2024

Labour’s economic pessimism halts UK equity market recovery,...

October 4, 2024

CXCherries NFTs launch to support women online through...

August 31, 2022

M&S warns of possible price hikes as national...

November 7, 2024

Greensphere Capital Raises £66.3 Million for Gaia Sciences...

March 20, 2024

    Get free access to all of the retirement secrets and income strategies from our experts! or Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get the Premium Articles Acess for Free

    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Recent Posts

    • TSA tells Americans their Costco cards won’t fly at airport security despite love for hot dogs

      June 7, 2025
    • Trump announces China will restart rare earth mineral shipments to US after productive call

      June 7, 2025
    • Musk feud presents ‘unprecedented’ dynamic compared to past Trump disputes: expert

      June 7, 2025
    • Snub of Musk’s NASA nominee ally preceded sudden ‘big, beautiful bill’ criticism, Trump feud

      June 6, 2025
    • Supreme Court rules DOGE can access Social Security information

      June 6, 2025
    • US sanctions money laundering network aiding Iran as regime faces nuclear reprimand at IAEA

      June 6, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (8,149)
    • Investing (2,019)
    • Politics (15,558)
    • Stocks (3,134)
    • About us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: futureretirementsuccess.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 futureretirementsuccess.com | All Rights Reserved