By Hamish Clark
British billionaire Sir Richard Branson has flown directly to Christchurch ahead of the weekend's Rugby World Cup final.
He made a visit to the perimeter of the red zone and then it emerged he was keen to provide incentives for new environmentally friendly businesses and help the Christchurch economy.
The Virgin boss is fully aware of what his staff had to endure with the quakes in Christchurch.
“Fortunately nobody lost lives, they all lost properties and a lot of them were pretty badly shaken up,” he says.
The billionaire jetted in from the United States, dashing to Christchurch for a closer look at the red zone without venturing inside.
Sir Branson, who heads over 400 companies worldwide, is keen to see the Christchurch economy get going again and is offering to help the city out.
“We are talking about setting up an entrepreneurial prize to try and get people to get new businesses going, particularly green businesses.
“The important thing now is to try and get a message out to the rest of the world that Christchurch is open for business.”
Sir Branson is also here to watch the Rugby World Cup final on the weekend; surely he will support the All Blacks.
“Britain and France have been at war for centuries, generally speaking with New Zealanders side by side with us. I am certainly going to be supporting New Zealand on Sunday.”
3 News