Virgin boss Richard Branson last night told 400 Bradford bosses one of his main aims is "having fun turning industries upside down".

Mr Branson, who was watched via a satellite television link by a total of 8,000 business people in 52 venues across the UK, also said the way to succeed was to constantly look for new ideas to work on.

He heads a group which has 200 companies in it, 8,000 staff, operates in 26 countries and has sales of £1.4 billion.

He was speaking at An Audience with Innovation, organised by the Department of Trade and Industry, which was beamed from the British Academy of Film & Television Arts in London.

He answered a series of questions posed by TV presenter Paul Burden and business people from a small number of venues, including Bradford.

Jane Gledhill, from Bradford Council's education department, asked Mr Branson at what point would he "take up the challenge of innovation." He said: "We have looked at some companies, decided whether we could do better, bought them and gone in and done things differently. We have had a great deal of fun turning industries upside down." Mr Branson also said he was constantly on the lookout for new ideas to work on.

The Bradford event which was the biggest in the country, was organised by Bradford Breakthrough and included discussion with panellists. It was supported by Business Link Bradford & District and Hammond Suddards solicitors.

The event sold out at the 300-seater Pictureville Cinema and almost 100 more saw Mr Branson at the Yorkshire Building Society's offices in Westgate.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.