The most likely course of action is that it will try to find a buyer for the jewel in its crown, the half-share in UKTV which it owns in partnership with BBC Worldwide, the corporation’s commercial arm.

UKTV owns channels such as UKTV Gold and UKTV History. Because its borrowings are capped at £350m, BBC Worldwide does not have deep enough pockets to buy out Virgin, but a change-of-control clause gives it approval over any new partner.

Meanwhile, Virgin is thought to be keen to retain and add to its portfolio of shopping channels. The company considered a sale of its content arm, then called Flextech, when NTL merged with Telewest in 2005 to create Virgin. But the plan was vetoed by the board, chaired by Jim Mooney.