ByRebecca Marston
Business reporter, BBC NewsDenise Coates, the billionaire manager of Bet365, included another ₤ 323m to her wealth this promotion code week after the company her household founded acquired another year of big earnings.
She's been called the UK's most successful lady, with a fortune that Forbes magazine puts in the area of ₤ 9.3 bn.
Most noticeably, she has actually made that largely herself.
Bet365 is Stoke-on-Trent's largest private sector company, with more than 4,600 personnel. It uses its millions of worldwide customers sports wagering, poker, gambling establishment, video 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' brother John is joint chief executive 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.
LISTEN: Profile: Denise Coates
Bet365 boss sees pay increase to ₤ 265m
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A lot is down to her mathematical skill, which was amazing from an early age. David Owen taught her at secondary school in the 1980s.
«She got everything right, only asked relevant questions and was angelically acted. She was plainly off the scale. If we were talking Mensa, she 'd remain in the top 1%,» he informed the BBC.
'More girls'
She achieved a top-notch degree in econometrics and trained as an accountant within the household company, developing even more on the understanding of the little chain that she got while working part-time throughout high school.
As well as an extremely keen eye for figures - the heart of any successful bookmaker — she is likewise a moderniser.
Among her coworkers, Debbie Tatton, told the BBC: «When Denise came, she desired a closer relationship between the personnel and the consumers. We ended up being a lot more professional, a lot more customer-focused. A great deal of younger individuals began can be found in, in addition to a lot more girls.»
In 2000, Ms Coates upped the stakes and convinced the family to mortgage business to enable them to establish brand-new software.
Her brother states she became fixated on the capacity for online gambling and ended up being a pioneer because company.
Setting up head office in a short-lived building in a parking area, Ms Coates called it the supreme gamble, purchasing the domain Bet365.com so that she might drive the company in that direction.
'Innate understanding'
«She's highly intelligent and really determined,» states Warwick Bartlett, from international wagering and gaming specialists GBGC.
«She is likewise capable of looking at the big image. Betfair was the innovator in in-play betting, but she was essentially the very first to harness mobile innovation, recognising that gamblers anywhere would have the ability to bet on sporting occasions.»
A big 70% of earnings now comes through banking on tablets and phones.
She is assisted, Mr Bartlett states, by the fact that she, distinctively, really understands the industry. «The Coates family are third-generation bookies. They have actually discovered the organization from moms and dads and grandparents.
»She has a natural knowledge of what the gambler is trying to find. A lot of the business these days have supervisors that might have come from [other sectors] They are professional managers who try to apply their understanding gained from offering beans or margarines."
Ad controversy
Mr Bartlett says close understanding of another company has assisted with the in-play football income: Bet365 owns regional club Stoke City.
«Owning a football club offered them an insight into the way the Premier League worked. Stoke City, not so successful itself, has played groups that truly are,» he states.
«On top of the contact with the professionals they take advantage of coverage through the sponsorship of the team. Bet365 has great direct exposure every time Stoke are included.»
Ms Coates' father is chairman of Stoke and has a higher public profile than she does.
But the name best connected with Bet365 is, naturally, Ray Winstone, whose gravelly tones used to urge 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 know their customers. He's a middle-aged guy and a little a geezer.
»Cleverly, Bet365 usage comparable types to interest their consumers in other markets. In Australia, it's Samuel L Jackson — he comes across 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 up.
But while Denise Coates' company brain believes global, she herself is most likely to stay rooted in Stoke.
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