In an open letter to his employees, the businessman said along with other Virgin assets, money would be raised against the island to save “as many jobs as possible” across the group.
The entrepreneur has come under fire for asking the government for a £500m loan to bail out Virgin Atlantic with criticisms made towards his estimated £7.4bn net worth and the company decision to put Virgin employees on an eight-week wage reduction.
The government has rejected Branson’s initial pleas, but in the letter where he continues to ask for support he insisted the loan will be repaid.
He wrote: “We will do everything we can to keep the airline going – but we will need government support to achieve that in the face of the severe uncertainty surrounding travel today and not knowing how long the planes will be grounded for.
“This would be in the form of a commercial loan – it wouldn’t be free money and the airline would pay it back.”
He has also been criticised for his settlement against the NHS in 2016, in which the healthcare service paid Virgin an undisclosed sum after it lost out on a £82m contract to provide care.
Addressing this, Branson wrote: “Some will say it was unwise for Virgin Care to do this, but the most important thing is that Virgin Care was never intending to profit from it and 100 per cent of the money awarded went straight back into the NHS.”
Branson’s family live on the island and it also runs as a luxury resort business with 175 employees.
He wrote: “Over the five decades I have been in business, this is the most challenging time we have ever faced.
“From a business perspective, the damage to many is unprecedented and the length of the disruption remains worryingly unknown.”
“It really breaks my heart to see the impact this pandemic is having across people’s lives and businesses around the world. When this crisis passes, as it eventually will, the world will be very different to the one we are used to. I know we will come out stronger and kinder to each other as a result,” he added.
