Rowan Gormley

Gormley studied at Selborne College, East London and the University of Cape Town. He trained as an accountant with the firm Arthur Andersen LLC. in South Africa for three years before moving to the United Kingdom in 1987 to work in venture capital for Electra Capital Partners.

Gormley was in private equity for seven years before going to work for Richard Branson in 1994. Branson brought him to Virgin to identify new business opportunities.

When he spotted financial services as a potential area for Virgin to explore, Branson asked Gormley to run it, and Virgin Direct (now Virgin Money) was born in 1995 with Gormley as CEO.

Whilst at Virgin Direct, Gormley was also behind the launch of The One Account, now a part of Royal Bank of Scotland.

After leaving Virgin Money, he launched three new start-ups. His first was Orgasmic Wines, with the help of his business partner Laura Knight and his brother Clinton Gormley. The firm became Virgin Wines in 2000 when Richard Branson bought into the business.

Laithwaites subsequently bought Virgin Wines, and Gormley left the company in June 2008.