Betfred is a bookmaker based in the United Kingdom, founded by Fred Done. It was first established as a single betting shop in Ordsall, Salford, in 1967. Its turnover in 2004 was reported to be more than £3.5 billion, having risen from £550 million in 2003 and has continued to grow to over £10 billion in 2018-2019. Following a drop in 2020 and 2021 as a result of the Covid pandemic, published turnover for the year to September 2022 was £8.8 billion.
It has its head office is in Birchwood, Warrington, and also has offices in Media City, Salford Quays, Salford.
Betfred.com, the company's online gambling site, is based in Gibraltar and registered as Petfre (Gibraltar) Limited.
History
Done Bookmakers was first established as a single shop in Ordsall, Salford in 1967. Fred Done financed the first Done Bookmakers shop with capital made from a winning bet he placed on England to win the 1966 World Cup. In 1997, Done Bookmakers acquired the Robert Walker chain of bookmakers, taking their total to one hundred shops. A mixture of organic and acquisition growth has resulted in Betfred being the largest independent retail bookmaker in the UK.
By 2000, the total number of shops nationwide had risen to two hundred, and in 2002, Done Bookmakers opened their first shop in the Greater London area.
The current name Betfred was first used in 2004. In 2004, Betfred also launched their digital platform Betfred.com and offer sports betting, online casino, online games, bingo, lotto, online poker and virtual sports as well as pool betting. In November 2004, a Betfred customer became the first betting shop millionaire; a customer known only as Ken selected six winners on the totescoop6 and pocketed £1,132,657 in a Salford shop.
Betfred's retail expansion continued with shops opening around the United Kingdom. Betfred's five-hundredth shop opened in Cardiff in 2005. In 2013, the company established Betfred TV, an in-house channel that is available in all shops both on the high street and on the racecourse. This was the first of its kind in the United Kingdom.
Fred Done was the first bookmaker to pay out early (i.e., before the result was guaranteed), when in March 1998 it paid out to gamblers who had bet that Manchester United F.C. would win the Premier League, only for Arsenal to pip United by one point.
During the 2004–05 FA Premier League season, Done lost £1m to fellow bookmaker Victor Chandler after staking that amount that Manchester United would finish higher than Chelsea. The bet was offered to other high profile bookmakers yet only Chandler took him up on the offer. Chelsea finished 18 points clear of third placed Manchester United and won their first Premiership title under José Mourinho.
Betfred also paid out early on Manchester United to win the 2011–12 Premier League title, only for Manchester City to beat them on goal difference.
It was widely reported in April 2010 that Fred Done formed part of the "Red Knights" consortium that were looking to buy English Premier League club Manchester United from the Glazer Family. The reports proved to be incorrect, but Done remained a season ticket holder at Old Trafford.
As of July 2017, Betfred operated over 1,650 shops throughout the United Kingdom, after the purchase of 322 shops due to the merger between fellow bookmakers Ladbrokes and Coral in October 2016. Betfred also operates shops on fifty one racecourses around the country, including Newmarket, Epsom and Cheltenham. In August 2017, Betfred appointed former Nottingham Forest and England footballer Stuart Pearce as its brand ambassador. The company believed Pearce to be the epitome of Betfred: uncomplicated.
In September 2017, Betfred celebrated their 50th year of business. A documentary film about the history of the company was released on the official channel of Betfred on YouTube. In July 2018, Betfred won a court case against HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). The ruling states that Betfred overpaid Value-Added Tax (VAT), and could see a £100 million refund.
In November 2018, punter David Smith took Betfred to court after he claimed to have won a jackpot of £212,000, having mistakenly written "Bailarico", a losing horse, on the betting slip, rather than "Bialco", a winner. The betting arbitrator IBAS ruled against him.
Sponsorship
Horse racing
Betfred is one of the largest sponsors of horse racing in the United Kingdom, with races spread across racecourses in the country, including the Midlands National run at Uttoxeter Racecourse, the Dante Stakes and Ebor Handicap both at York Racecourse, and the Betfred Cesarewitch Handicap on the Rowley Mile course at Newmarket Racecourse.
