From One Shop to the UK’s Leading Chain – The Betfred Story

by Roy Brindley 21.08.2026

How did two brothers from Salford turn a £25 wager into one of the UK’s biggest betting companies, acquiring an estimated £3 billion fortune in the process? This is the Betfred story …

Ronnie O’Sullivan shares a joke with Fred Done at the 2022 World Snooker Championship – a competition sponsored by Betfred. © Getty

How a £25 Wager Became the Most Successful Bookmaker Bet

Betting goliaths Ladbrokes, William Hill and Coral may be commonplace on Britain’s high streets, but they are not alone. In fact, with the significant number of William Hill shop closures from mid-2026 onwards, and Entain – Ladbrokes and Coral’s parent company – tightening its belt, Betfred could soon be the most common betting brand in the UK’s towns and cities.

Unlike the so-called “big three”, Betfred is a private, family-owned, independent bookmaker. Official figures suggest its logo appears above the doors of 1,600 licensed UK premises, and the company also runs a significant online operation.

Remarkably, this multi-billion-pound enterprise has remained in the same hands for almost 60 years. Its story began in 1966, when a successful £25 wager on England to win the World Cup helped finance the opening of a single betting shop in Salford, Manchester, the following summer.

100 Betting Shops Opened in 30 Years

It was Fred Done who placed the successful wager, although the new enterprise was a joint venture with his younger brother, Peter. Together, the duo grew the business organically, amassing a chain of 70-plus shops in and around England’s North West by the mid-1980s.

Fred Done bookies on Grand National Day pic.twitter.com/DnnfB1SuHB

— Sports & Betting History by BestBettingSites (@BettingSitesCom) September 19, 2019

Early in the same decade, Peter Done stepped back from the day-to-day betting operations of ‘Done’s Bookmakers’. His attention turned to founding Peninsula Business Services, an HR, health & safety, and employment law firm.

Like the Done bookmaking empire, Peninsula Business Services became hugely successful. It currently serves an estimated 60,000-75,000 businesses globally. The company also has several significant subsidiaries, including Employsure, Croner Group and Health Assured.

Fred, as chairman, continued to drive Dones Bookmakers forward. In 1997, his acquisition of another North West betting chain, Robert Walker, took the family’s portfolio of shops beyond 100. The company, in terms of betting shops, doubled in size again by 2002. It was a year that the first ‘Dones’ was opened in Greater London.

500 Shop Milestone Reached in 2005

Impressive progress gave way to rapid growth over the next three years. A rebranding took place in 2004, with Dones Bookmakers re-labelled as Betfred to coincide with the launch of its online betting site, which offered sports betting, casino games, bingo, poker, and more.

Another key milestone took place in 2005, when Betfred opened its 500th shop in Cardiff. Expansion continued at a rapid pace courtesy of some major acquisitions. In 2011, Betfred were the successful bidders in the auction to buy the government-owned pool betting operator, The Tote.

Costing £265 million, the new purchase gave Fred Done’s company control of pool betting at racecourses and online. It also added hundreds of high-street outlets to the Betfred portfolio.

More betting shops were acquired between 2016 and 2017, when the merger of Ladbrokes and Coral necessitated a wholesale sell-off due to competition laws. 322 of their shops were taken over by Betfred, a purchase that pushed the number of Betfred shops in the UK to an estimated peak of 1,650.

Domestic Success With Classic Sponsorship

Much of the company’s domestic success can be attributed to a strong sponsorship portfolio. Events Betfred has backed include the World Snooker Championship, rugby league’s Super League and Challenge Cups, and the Scottish League Cup. The betting firm has also backed various football clubs.

The Super League has been sponsored by Betfred every year since 2016, and in 2025, Betfred became the headline sponsor of all of horse racing’s five classics: The 1000 and 2000 Guineas, the Derby, Oaks and St. Leger.

Betfred’s Forays, Failures, and Fines

Betfred is not just a domestic betting operator. It has expanded beyond the British Isles but has not enjoyed the same outstanding success with its international exploits. A foray into the newly regulated United States sports betting, both online and retail, was made in 2020.

By 2024-2025, it withdrew from the country. A similar 2019 venture in Spain also led to a relatively quick retreat. South Africa has been a happier hunting ground. Betfred operates over 50 betting halls in the country and has acquired a majority stake in Lottostar, South Africa’s largest online betting operator.

Betfred has faced regulatory scrutiny and fines from the UK Gambling Commission for issues related to anti-money laundering and social responsibility. There was a £2.87 million fine in 2022. Social responsibility failures in its safer gambling controls led the British regulator to fine Betfred an additional £900,000 in June 2026.

Betfred Reflects UK Betting Shop History

Ultimately, from the 1960s legalisation of betting shops through the high-street boom, the digital shift, and significant regulatory tightening, Betfred’s history reflects the transformation of the UK betting industry over the years.

The company is still based in the UK’s North East – headquartered in Birchwood, Warrington, with offices in Salford’s Media City – and Betfred remains privately owned by the Done family.

Fred Done stepped down as CEO in April 2021, but he continues as Betfred’s chairman. The octogenarian has diversified into property development and philanthropy, including major donations to youth zones in Manchester and Salford.

With a net worth estimated at nearly £3 billion, Fred and Peter Done have consistently ranked among the UK’s wealthiest individuals. In the 2026 Sunday Times Tax List (covering the 2025 tax year), the pair were named as the UK’s biggest taxpayers, paying an estimated $400 million in tax.