Peter Done
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Peter Eric Done (born 6 February 1947) is an English
billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...
businessman. He is a co-founder of
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 ...
and the founder and group managing director of Peninsula Business Services, established in 1983.


Early life

Done was born in
Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...
,
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
, England on 6 February 1947. Done has three siblings, including
Fred Done Fred Done (born March 1943) is a British billionaire businessman and the owner of the bookmaking chain Betfred, which has more than 1,600 betting shops in the UK. Early life Done grew up with three siblings in Ordsall, Greater Manchester. Done ...
. He attended Trafford Road School in Salford and Winton Senior School in
Eccles, Greater Manchester Eccles () is a market town in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, west of Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford and west of Manchester, split by the M602 motorway and bordered by the Manchester Ship Canal to the south. The t ...
. At age 15, he left school along with his brother to work at their father’s illegal bookmaking business. At 17, Done managed a betting shop for another company. “You weren’t even allowed in betting shops until you were 18, and I was managing one at 17”. At age 21, he acquired his own shop in Pendleton, England.


Career


Betfred

In 1967, Done co-founded his own bookmaking business with his brother using money they received betting on the 1966-67 World Cup. They received a £75,000 loan from
NatWest National Westminster Bank, trading as NatWest, is a major Retail banking, retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the Corporate merger, merger of National Provincial Bank and We ...
. Originally, their business was named Done Brothers, but eventually, it was changed to its current ‘Betfred.’ In its early days, Betfred was a family business; Done, his brother, their father, their mother and both of their wives helped run the store throughout the week. Done’s role at the time was as a sales and marketing director. The
1967 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak The 1967 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak was a major outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the United Kingdom. The only centre of the disease, in contrast to the three concentrated areas in the 2001 crisis, was on the Wales border with Shr ...
caused many bookmaking businesses to close. Betfred managed to stay afloat by pivoting from horse racing — the major sport that involved betting — to afternoon dog racing. After 12 months of successfully being in business, Done and his brother decided to expand by buying another storefront. They bought their new shop at £250 and made the money back within the week. Peter managed the second shop while his brother Fred stayed at the first one. Their sister would go on to manage their third shop. As of 2018, Betfred has over 1,650 shops and a turnover of approximately £10 billion.


Peninsula

In 1983 Done and his brother co-founded Professional Personnel and Management Services Limited after having to pay £9,000 to settle an employment tribunal. In 1989, after the business was failing leaving their £450,000 investment at risk, Done and his brother Fred tossed a coin to decide who would lead the company's turnaround, which Done won. The business didn’t find success until Done identified its potential and decided to focus his abilities and time on it. He planned to advertise its services on the road for six months, then return to work with his brother at Betfred. “I was supposed to be coming back from Peninsula after six months and we were going to get a manager in, but 35 years later I’m still in the business". In May 2012, Peninsula Business Services acquired a 65% share of Employsure, an Australian advising firm specialising in
industrial relations Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor union, labor/trade unions, employer organ ...
, which was registered as a company in 2011. In 2013, Done injected a cash investment of £1.6 million to improve and develop the HROnline app. This app helped employers manage different types of human resource activities such as sickness, employment, holidays, and lateness recording. As of 2021, Done is the founder and current managing director of Peninsula. It claims to be the UK’s largest provider of employment law, human resource, health & safety, and employee assistance program consultancy services. Its subsidiaries include Employsure, Peninsula Canada, Croner Tax, Croneri and
Croner Group Croner is a British company that is active in the four areas of human resources, health and safety, procurement, employment and education law. History Early history Croner Publications Ltd. was established in 1941 by Ulrich Horst Edward Crone ...
. The company headquarters is the Peninsula Building 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 ...
and it employs over 3,500 people worldwide, working in five countries. The Canadian Peninsula branch houses over 200 employees, 3,000 clients, and operates in nine Canadian provinces (Peninsula Team, 2020). In 2023, the business hit £100 million profit for the first time,


Charity

Done, along with his brother, have charitable trusts set up. Their main donations are to children (children hospitals, children’s charities). They once donated one day’s worth of Betfred profits to the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital during the
Cheltenham festival The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Race ...
. They also once donated £200 per
century break In snooker, a century break (also century, sometimes called a ton) is a of 100 points or more, compiled in one to the table. A century break requires potting at least 25 consecutive balls, and the ability to score centuries is regarded as a m ...
played at the
Snooker World Championship The World Snooker Championship, or simply known as the World Championship, is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the richest event to date with a total prize money of £2,395,000, including ...
to the Jessie May children’s charity — the final amount donated was £40,000. In March 2021, Peninsula raised £1 million for the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital charity. Due to the
Covid-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
and the increased pressure on the staff, Done decided to increase their pledge to £2 million. Done notes “Peninsula Group are delighted to have reached the remarkable milestone of raising £1 million through our incredible fundraising efforts and the Group matching every donation made. We hope that this impressive donation will help Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity significantly.” Done and the Peninsula Group reached their £2 million fundraising target at the end of 2022 and vowed to help the hospital further with an addition £1 million pledge in 2023.


Awards and accolades

In 2015, Done was shortlisted for the Service Industries award by the Great British Entrepreneur awards. In 2019, Done was awarded the Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award.


Personal life

Done lives in Salford. He married Anne Done in 1968 and together they had two children. Done owns a home in Ladyhill, Manchester, as well as homes in the
Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...
and
Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionFrance France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. He owns a
Lamborghini SUV The Lamborghini Urus is a high performance luxury SUV manufactured by Italian automobile manufacturer Lamborghini. It was introduced in December 2017 as a 2018 model year production vehicle. The Urus is the first Lamborghini SUV and five-door v ...
and a
Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...
. Done supports
Manchester United FC Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. They compete in the Premier League, t ...
and attends football matches with his brother. “That is where we have our board meetings, we just sit there and have a chat about what’s going on". He is friends with
Sir Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former professional football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as the greatest manager of all time and ...
and often holiday together in France. 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 his and his brother's net worth at £1.87 billion. Fred and Peter Done and family paid £136.8 million in tax in 2022; fifth place on ''The Sunday Times Tax List'' of the UK's 100 biggest taxpayers. According to the Sunday Times Rich List in May 2025, his and his family's net worth is £2.915 billion.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Done, Peter Eric 1947 births Living people English billionaires English businesspeople Conservative Party (UK) donors