In 1967, brothers Fred and Peter Done, aged 24 and 20, opened their first betting shop in Salford, funded by (fittingly) winnings from a bet on England to win the 1966 World Cup. Both had left school at 15 with no qualifications, having spent their teenage years working in their father’s illegal bookmaking operation. Originally set up as Done Brothers, Betfred expanded over the years to have operations in the UK, South Africa, the US and Europe.

In 1983, Peter set up a HR business after having to pay £9,000 to settle an employment tribunal. However, it was struggling and their £450,000 investment was at risk. This came to a head in 1989 when the brothers settled the question of who would try to rescue it with a coin toss in Fred’s garden. Peter took on the failing business himself, while Fred stayed in charge of the bookmaker.

Peninsula, the company in question, has gone on to major heights, supporting over 35,000 small UK businesses and 135,000 SMEs globally. Betfred achieved over £900m in sales in the financial year ending March 2025, but the bookmaker shed “unprofitable” operations in nine US states and disposed of its business in Spain. The company has over 1,300 shops and 9,500 employees. The brothers have also faced conflict-of-interest scrutiny over NHS gambling-addiction contracts.

Despite running separate empires for close to four decades, the brothers have stayed close, each keeping a hand in the other’s business. Fred stepped down as Betfred CEO in 2021 but remained chairman. They jointly appeared on The Sunday Times Rich List 2026 with a net worth of £3.6bn.