Courtesy of Amy McKie / Augusta Margaret River Mail
You may have noticed a story hitting the headlines at the moment about Vasse Virgin – a small local family-run olive oil and skin care business. The company has been involved in a legal struggle with Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Enterprises Limited, who challenged their right to use the word ‘Virgin’ in their trademark.
After two years of legal wrangling, Virgin Enterprises Limited withdrew their opposition last week, so there were huge celebrations for Managing Directors Edwina and Louis Scherini (pictured) and the Vasse Virgin team.
But the story doesn’t stop there.
“We harbour no ill will towards VEL or Sir Richard; we know that our olive oil business in regional WA doesn’t pose a threat to his airline and other global businesses, so we think inviting him to our little farm in the south west is a great move forward.”
– Vasse Virgin Managing Director Edwina Scherini via perthnow.com.au
Extending the olive branch
We like to think that the Margaret River Region locals aren’t the type to hold a grudge, but we were still super impressed when we heard that the family is now very magnanimously extending the proverbial olive branch to Sir Richard Branson. They are inviting him to break bread (with olive oil) with them when he visits Australia next month for the National Achiever’s Congress in Sydney. They say on their blog:
“We want to let bygones be bygones and show Sir Richard what a fantastic region we all live in.”
Help get Richard to the Region!
A personalised video invitation to Sir Richard has just gone online via Vasse Virgin’s YouTube channel and it’s definitely worth a watch. Vasse Virgin’s Edwina Scherini, along with some other locals, invites Sir Richard to visit the region and indulge in some of the activities he’s known to like, such as kitesurfing and wine tasting. The quirky script is made up of Sir Richard’s book titles.
Watch the video below and please share the story to help get the message out to Sir Richard himself!
See Vasse Virgin’s quest unfold online via #RichardtotheRegion, and you can also head to Vasse Virgin’s Facebook page or comment below to add your own ideas about what Sir Richard should see and do if he makes it to the region.
Featured in the video: Edwina Scherini and the team at Vasse Virgin; Anthony Janssen, local kitesurfer (and Morries, The White Elephant Beach Cafe and The Common); Steve Millington at Tiger Moth Adventure Flights; Erin O’Neil at Vasse Felix. Filmed by Farmhouse Films.
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