In the case of Virgin, unrelated diversification has certainly been a successful strategy in terms of maximizing profitability. Looking back to 1970s and the start of its operations as a record mail order company and record store soon after, given the rapidly changing nature of the music industry since, it is possible that the company would no longer exist if it hadn’t innovated in this way. With a total of 35 subsidiary companies within the Virgin Group globally, within the UK today’s breadwinners look very different to the 1970s, helping the Virgin Group to a total revenue of £15 billion in 2012: