Fred Done (born March 1943) is a British billionaire businessman and the owner of the

bookmaking A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795. Range of events Bookm ...

chain

Betfred Betfred is a bookmaker based in the United Kingdom, founded by Fred Done.Pronounced to rhyme with "bone". It was first established as a single betting shop in Ordsall, Salford, in 1967. Its turnover in 2004 was reported to be more than £3.5 bi ...

, which has more than 1,600 betting shops in the UK.

Early life

Done grew up with three siblings in

Ordsall, Greater Manchester Ordsall is an inner city suburb of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the 2011 census was 14,194. It lies chiefly to the south of the A57 road, close to the River Irwell, the main boundary with the city of Manchester, Sal ...

. Done and his brother

Peter Done Peter Eric Done (born 1947) is an English billionaire businessman, the founder and group managing director of Peninsula Business Services, established in 1983. Done was born in Salford, Lancashire, England in February 1947. His wife is Anna Done ...

left school aged 15 without qualifications after working in their father’s illegal bookmaking business.

Career

In 1967 aged 24, Done opened his first bookmaker with his brother, which they funded by a win on England's victory in

1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 July to 30 July 1966. The England national football team defeated West Germany 4-2 in the ...

the year before. By the mid-1980s, they had more than 70 bookmaking shops. In 1983, Done founded Peninsula Business Services, which has more than 10 companies operating in employment law, workplace health, and

human resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include m ...

. In 1998, Done paid out early

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

to win the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

title, making him the first bookmaker to pay out early at the end of the season. In 2004, Done's chain of bookmakers was renamed Betfred. In 2015, Done announced he was in talks to sell a 25% stake in

The Tote The Tote is a British gambling company which is the largest pool betting operator in the United Kingdom. Headquartered in Wigan, England, its main products are sports betting and online casino. Founded in 1928, the company was owned by the U ...

after buying it from the UK government for £265 million in 2011. In 2018, Done made an investment in ''Adzooma, an'' online advertising platform based in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

, UK. In 2020, Done invested in GGRecon, an

esports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...

publisher based in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, UK. In 2021, Done stepped down as the CEO of Betfed and took up the role as Chairman. In 2021, the

Sunday Times Rich List The ''Sunday Times Rich List'' is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families resident in the United Kingdom ranked by net wealth. The list is updated annually in April and published as a magazine supplement by British national Sunday news ...

estimated Done's net worth to be £1.235 billion.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Done, Fred 1943 births Living people British billionaires Conservative Party (UK) donors