Sir Richard Branson knows his reputation has changed over the past 2 years. Tom Bower's bile-filled biography; the failure to win the Lottery; the terrible performance of Virgin traits; the queries over loans staked on Virgin Atlantic shares; the suspicions over just how much money is going offshore - somehow the landscape is different. Yet at the same time, it is clear, that he also feels things are looking up. The bulk of the British public still adore him and there is a sense that he could now be over the worst. He has some good-news stories inside the Virgin empire and there has also been an attempt to reposition his business rationale by describing his approach as "branded venture capital". He is certainly still a key icon in an increasingly entrepreneurial world.