Fred Done (born March 1943) is a British billionaire businessman and the owner of the

bookmaking A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays out bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Harry Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795, although similar a ...

chain

Betfred Betfred Group Holdings Limited is a bookmaker based in the United Kingdom, founded by Fred Done.Pronounced to rhyme with "bone". It was first established as a single betting shop in Ordsall, Salford, in 1967. Its turnover in 2004 was reported ...

, which has more than 1,600 betting shops in the UK.

Early life

Done grew up with three siblings in

Ordsall, Greater Manchester Ordsall is an inner city suburb of City of Salford, Salford, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 14,194. It lies chiefly to the south of the A57 road, close to the River Irwell, the ma ...

. Done and his brother

Peter Done Peter Eric Done (born 6 February 1947) is an English billionaire businessman. He is a co-founder of Betfred and the founder and group managing director of Peninsula Business Services, established in 1983. Early life Done was born in Salford, ...

left school aged 15 without qualifications after working in their father’s illegal bookmaking business.

Career

In 1967 aged 24, Done opened his first bookmaker with his brother, which they funded by a win on England's victory in

1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 to 30 July 1966. England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the 1966 FI ...

the year before. By the mid-1980s, they had more than 70 bookmaking shops. In 1983, Done founded Peninsula Business Services, which has more than 10 companies operating in employment law, workplace health, and

human resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ' ...

. In 1998, Done paid out early

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

to win the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

title, making him the first bookmaker to pay out early at the end of the season. In 2004, Done's chain of bookmakers was renamed Betfred. In 2015, Done announced he was in talks to sell a 25% stake in

The Tote The Tote is a British gambling company founded in 1928. It operates the world's largest online pool betting website. Its product offering also includes sports betting and online casino. Business operations are led from its headquarters in W ...

after buying it from the UK government for £265 million in 2011. In 2018, Done made an investment in ''Adzooma, an'' online advertising platform based in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

, UK. In 2020, Done invested in GGRecon, an

esports Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...

publisher based in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, UK. In 2021, Done stepped down as the chief executive of Betfred and took up the role of chairman. In 2023, the

Sunday Times Rich List The ''Sunday Times Rich List'' is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families resident in the United Kingdom ranked by net wealth. The list is updated annually in April and has been published as a magazine supplement by British national ...

estimated Done's net worth to be £1.87 billion. According to the Sunday Times Rich List in May 2025, his and his family's net worth is £2.915 billion.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Done, Fred 1943 births Living people British billionaires British company founders Conservative Party (UK) donors