How Bet365's Denise Coates Hit her Own Jackpot

ByRebecca Marston
Business press reporter, BBC News

Denise Coates, the billionaire boss of Bet365, included another ₤ 323m to her wealth today after the company her household founded racked up another year of huge earnings.

She's been called the UK's most successful female, with a fortune that Forbes magazine puts in the region of ₤ 9.3 bn.

Most noticeably, she has made that largely herself.

Bet365 is Stoke-on-Trent's biggest economic sector company, with more than 4,600 personnel. It offers its countless worldwide customers sports betting, poker, casino, video games and bingo. The firm had a ₤ 3bn turnover in the year to the end of March and a profit before tax of ₤ 791m.

Ms Coates' sibling John is joint president and her father Peter is the firm's chairman, however Denise Coates owns half the company and there's no doubt the success is mainly hers.

LISTEN: Profile: Denise Coates

Bet365 manager sees pay increase to ₤ 265m

Serious bettors tend to have a "system", an apparently foolproof method that will keep bringing benefits. So what's her "system"?

Return to the 1990s and there aren't many who would have bet on the small family-run chain of local betting shops growing to such a size.

A lot is down to her mathematical talent, which was remarkable from an early age. David Owen taught her at secondary school in the 1980s.

"She got everything right, just asked important concerns and was angelically behaved. She was clearly off the scale. If we were talking Mensa, she 'd remain in the leading 1%," he informed the BBC.

'More women'

She accomplished a top-notch degree in econometrics and trained as an accountant within the household firm, building even more on the understanding of the little chain that she got while working part-time during high school.

As well as a very keen eye for figures - the heart of any successful bookie - she is also a moderniser.

Among her colleagues, Debbie Tatton, told the BBC: "When Denise came, she wanted a closer relationship between the personnel and the clients. We became a lot more professional, a lot more customer-focused. A lot of more youthful people started coming in, as well as a lot more girls."

In 2000, Ms Coates upped the stakes and encouraged the family to mortgage the company to allow them to develop new software.

Her brother states she became fixated on the capacity for online betting and became a pioneer in that business.

Setting up head office in a momentary structure in a parking lot, Ms Coates called it the ultimate gamble, purchasing the domain name Bet365.com so that she might drive business because instructions.

'Innate knowledge'

"She's extremely smart and very identified," says Warwick Bartlett, from international wagering and video gaming consultants GBGC.

"She is likewise efficient in taking a look at the huge photo. Betfair was the innovator in in-play betting, but she was basically the first to harness mobile innovation, identifying that bettors anywhere would have the ability to bank on sporting events."

A substantial 70% of earnings now comes through betting on tablets and phones.

She is assisted, Mr Bartlett says, by the fact that she, distinctively, truly knows the industry. "The Coates household are third-generation bookies. They have actually found out the company from moms and dads and grandparents.

"She has an inherent understanding of what the bettor is trying to find. A great deal of the companies these days have managers that might have originated from [other sectors] They are professional managers who attempt to apply their knowledge acquired from offering beans or margarines."

Ad debate

Mr Bartlett says close knowledge of another company has actually assisted with the in-play football earnings: Bet365 owns local club Stoke City.

"Owning a football club offered them an insight into the way the yohaig code Premier League worked. Stoke City, not so effective itself, has actually played groups that truly are," he states.

"On top of the contact with the yohaig code experts they take advantage of coverage through the sponsorship of the team. Bet365 has fantastic exposure each time Stoke are featured."

Ms Coates' dad is chairman of Stoke and has a greater public profile than she does.

But the name best related to Bet365 is, of course, Ray Winstone, whose gravelly tones utilized to advise punters to "wager in play - NOW!" before the ads were pulled.

Again, Warwick Bartlett states, Ms Coates got it right. "Using Ray validates my point about 365, they know their clients. He's a middle-aged guy and a little a geezer.

"Cleverly, Bet365 use comparable types to interest their consumers in other markets. In Australia, it's Samuel L Jackson - he comes throughout in the advert as a very cool guy."