MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS
Using the experience gained in the gambling industry, in 1967, the Done brothers opened their first bookmaker and by the mid-1980s they had over 70 bookmaking shops.
In March 1998, Done became the first bookmaker to pay out early to players who had wagered on Manchester United FC in the Premier League.
Then in 2004, right after being renamed Betfred, the bookmaker launched its digital platform Betfred.com.
In 2005, Betfred opened its five-hundredth shop in Cardiff, and in 2013, launched an in-house channel called Betfred TV.
Most recently, in 2017, the online sports and news broadcaster Thesportsman.com was established and Done was one of its major stakeholders.
EMPLOYMENT
Fred Done served as Betfred CEO until 2021 when he stepped down and took up the role of Chairman.
“When I was 24 there was the chance to buy my first shop so I scrounged money off everyone I knew to get it. Thus Betfred – then called Done Bookmakers – was born. I never went into business to build a big business but to make a life for me and my family. And we were very good at it. We worked and worked and worked and that’s how it started.” Fred Done
