New fathers will be given up to a year’s paternity leave on full salary as part of a new policy unveiled at Virgin by Richard Branson.

The extraordinary offer goes far beyond the new system of shared parental leave recently unveiled by the Government, which allows new parents to divide 50 weeks of leave between them.

The full year is being offered to parents at Virgin irrespective of gender, and includes those who adopt.

But, as with Sir Richard’s much-vaunted announcement of “unlimited” holiday for all staff, there are a couple of catches.

First, only those who have been with Virgin for at least four years will receive the paternity or maternity pay of 100 per cent of their salaries. Newer recruits get remunerated proportionately, from 25 per cent for less than two years’ service – though that’s likely to still be higher than the statutory deal.

Secondly, the offer only applies to employees of Virgin Management, the overarching investment and brand licensing arm of the global Virgin Group. That means it only actually affects around 140 people employed at offices in London and Geneva.

Nonetheless, the new parental leave policy was hailed by Virgin Management CEO Josh Bayliss as “a ground-breaking move” and “something special for our staff”.

In pictures: Virgin Galactic space rocket crash Show all 9 1 /9 In pictures: Virgin Galactic space rocket crash In pictures: Virgin Galactic space rocket crash Virgin Galactic space rocket A three-image combination shows the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo rocket separating from the carrier aircraft, left, before it exploded, right, during a test flight on 31 October 2014 AP Photo/Kenneth Brown In pictures: Virgin Galactic space rocket crash Virgin Galactic space rocket Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic, with a scale model of the Spaceship Two attached to the White Knight carrier aircraft in this January 2008 photograph STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Virgin Galactic space rocket crash Virgin Galactic space rocket The Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo rocket explodes in the air during a test flight AP In pictures: Virgin Galactic space rocket crash Virgin Galactic space rocket Wreckage from Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo Reuters In pictures: Virgin Galactic space rocket crash galactic-debris-reuters.jpg A piece of debris after the crash of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo near Cantil, California REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson In pictures: Virgin Galactic space rocket crash Virgin Galactic space rocket The suborbital passenger spaceship being developed by Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic crashed during a test flight on Friday at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California Reuters In pictures: Virgin Galactic space rocket crash Virgin Galactic space rocket Police officers stand near wreckage from Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo Reuters In pictures: Virgin Galactic space rocket crash Virgin Galactic space rocket The wreckage of what is believed to be SpaceShipTwo in Southern California's Mojave Desert AP In pictures: Virgin Galactic space rocket crash Virgin Galactic space rocket A rescue crew carries a person on a stretcher to a waiting helicopter near the scene of a crash of the SpaceShipTwo in Southern California's Mojave Desert AP

In a statement, Sir Richard said: “If you take care of your employees they will take care of your business.

“As a father and now a granddad to three wonderful grandchildren, I know how magical the first year of a child’s life is but also how much hard work it takes.