ByRebecca Marston
Business reporter, BBC News
Denise Coates, the billionaire employer of Bet365, added another ₤ 323m to her wealth today after the company her household founded acquired another year of huge profits.
She's been called the UK's most effective woman, with a fortune that Forbes publication puts in the area of ₤ 9.3 bn.
Most noticeably, she has actually made that mainly herself.
Bet365 is Stoke-on-Trent's largest economic sector company, with more than 4,600 staff. It uses its millions of worldwide clients sports wagering, poker, gambling establishment, games and bingo. The company had a ₤ 3bn turnover in the year to the end of March and a revenue before tax of ₤ 791m.
Ms Coates' bro John is joint president and her dad Peter is the firm's chairman, but Denise Coates owns half the business and there's no doubt the success is largely hers.
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LISTEN: Profile: Denise Coates
Bet365 manager sees pay increase to ₤ 265m
Serious gamblers tend to have a "system", a supposedly foolproof method that will keep bringing rewards. So what's her "system"?
Go back to the 1990s and there aren't many who would have gambled on the little family-run chain of local betting shops growing to such a size.
A lot is down to her mathematical skill, which was impressive from an early age. David Owen taught her at secondary school in the 1980s.
"She got whatever right, just asked relevant questions and was angelically acted. She was clearly off the scale. If we were talking Mensa, she 'd remain in the leading 1%," he informed the BBC.
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'More women'
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She attained a top-notch degree in econometrics and trained as an accountant within the household firm, constructing further on the knowledge of the little chain that she picked up while working part-time during high school.
As well as an extremely keen eye for figures - the heart of any effective bookie - she is likewise a moderniser.
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One of her coworkers, Debbie Tatton, informed the BBC: "When Denise came, she desired a more detailed relationship between the staff and the clients. We became a lot more expert, a lot more customer-focused. A lot of more youthful individuals began can be found in, as well as a lot more women."
In 2000, Ms Coates upped the stakes and convinced the household to mortgage the business to allow them to establish brand-new software application.
Her brother states she became focused on the potential for online gambling and ended up being a leader in that organization.
Establishing headquarters in a momentary building in a parking area, Ms Coates called it the supreme gamble, purchasing the domain Bet365.com so that she could drive the organization because direction.
'Innate understanding'
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"She's highly smart and very determined," states Warwick Bartlett, from global betting and gaming consultants GBGC.
"She is likewise efficient in looking at the big picture. Betfair was the innovator in in-play wagering, but she was basically the first to harness mobile innovation, acknowledging that gamblers anywhere would have the ability to bet on sporting occasions."
A big 70% of income now comes through banking on tablets and phones.
She is assisted, Mr Bartlett says, by the reality that she, distinctively, really knows the market. "The Coates household are third-generation bookmakers. They have discovered the organization from moms and dads and grandparents.
"She has a natural knowledge of what the gambler is looking for. A great deal of the companies nowadays have managers that may have come from [other sectors] They are expert managers who attempt to apply their understanding acquired from selling beans or margarines."
Ad debate
Mr Bartlett states close knowledge of another company has actually assisted with the in-play football earnings: Bet365 owns local club Stoke City.
"Owning a football club provided an insight into the method the Premier League worked. Stoke City, not so effective itself, has played teams that really are," he states.
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"On top of the contact with the experts they benefit from protection through the sponsorship of the group. Bet365 has great exposure whenever Stoke are included."
Ms Coates' dad is chairman of Stoke and has a greater public profile than she does.
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But the name best connected with Bet365 is, of course, Ray Winstone, whose gravelly tones utilized to prompt 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 understand their customers. He's a middle-aged guy and a bit of a geezer.
"Cleverly, Bet365 use similar types to attract their customers in other markets. In Australia, it's Samuel L Jackson - he discovers in the advert as a very cool guy."
Bet365 continues to keep one action ahead. It's moving into the US as the marketplace there opens.
But while Denise Coates' business brain thinks global, she herself is most likely to stay rooted in Stoke.
employer makes ₤ 265m
21 November 2018
Online betting boss made a CBE
31 December 2011
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