Arise Sir Knight! George Frew looks back at 50 years of successes and a few failures for the charismatic Kidlington tycoon Sir Richard Branson . . .

Today, the Virgin King will celebrate his 50th birthday on Necker, his personal Virgin island. In the company of friends and family and the odd celebrity such as Peter Gabriel, Richard Charles Nicholas Branson, Knight of the Garter, will mark his half century on the planet while his office back in London braces itself for the usual anticipated flood of calls from the boss.

"He's at his most dangerous when he's out there," says one employee. "He does a lot of thinking."

Richard Branson has done a lot of moving and shaking since he left Stowe public school as a teenager. Described as "a modern day Sir Francis Drake," and "a charming chancer", Branson was a millionaire by 21. Sir Richard's worldwide empire had its genesis in a church crypt in Paddington.

Everyone who worked for him was paid 13 a week. Mail order records made him his first serious money, although at one point his parents, Eve and Ted, wanted their son to become a barrister. They soon realised it was better to let their son do what he wanted.

For almost 30 years now, the British public has willed Branson on, but, as a BBC documentary, The Branson Years shows, he has known failure, too.

His first marriage, to Kirstin Tomasi, broke up, and he lost around 1m on a magazine called Event, which he published when he couldn't get his hands on the listings mag Time Out. "You learn more from your failures than from your successes," says Branson. He has had his well-publicised battle with British Airways, which ended in the former state airline being fined 4m for its 'dirty tricks' campaign against Branson and his Virgin Atlantic airline. But it was a Pyrrhic victory of sorts. That cost me my record company, which was the love of my life," he says. He claims that within two years, Virgin Trains will be a success. If anything, his love of adventure is undiminished. "I have never undertaken any of my adventures just to promote our businesses," he says. "I wouldn't risk my life solely to do that."

Doubtless, this is good news to his wife, Joan, and children, Holly and Sam. Indeed, there is some touching footage of Sam embracing his father in The Branson Years, just prior to last year's around the world balloon attempt, which ended in the Pacific ocean, but still managed to break a few records anyway.

"You only live once and you should live life to the full," says the Kidlington-based tycoon. The City has its own views of Sir Richard, with at least one expert confident that "If he disappeared tomorrow, Virgin wouldn't exist in a year's time.

After 30 years, 200 companies and umpteen adventures, there's no sign of The Virgin King wilting.

Soon, he will learn if his second bid to run the National Lottery has been successful. If he gets his hands on it this time, you sense that it might well be the best birthday present Sir Richard Branson could have.

For his 50th year, anyway . . .

**The Branson Years, Wednesday at 9pm on BBC Knowledge Channel