Betfred

A successful punt on England to win the 1966 football World Cup provided some of the readies to start BetFred, the Fred and Peter Done's chain of bookmakers. Their father had been an illegal bookie and the brothers doubled turnover at their first betting shop within just nine months. Although Fred’s entrepreneurial career was nearly cut short in his late 20s when he was stabbed five times by a customer who had lost a £50 bet.

The brothers' business expanded steadily through organic growth and acquisitions. By the mid-1980s, they had tens of shops, and by the late 1990s, they were opening hundreds. In 2004, the company was re-branded as Betfred and launched its digital platform, marking the shift into online betting and a wider retail footprint. The company has over 1,300 shops and 9,500 employees and the pair have also done well from Peninsula, a separate business providing HR and health and safety consultancy services to SMEs.