ByRebecca Marston
Business press reporter, BBC News

Denise Coates, the billionaire employer of Bet365, included another ₤ 323m to her wealth today after the business her family established racked up another year of huge profits.

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 made that mainly herself.

Bet365 is Stoke-on-Trent's largest economic sector employer, with more than 4,600 personnel. It provides its countless worldwide customers sports betting, poker, gambling establishment, video games and bingo. The firm had a ₤ 3bn turnover in the year to the end of March and an earnings before tax of ₤ 791m.

Ms Coates' bro John is joint chief executive and her daddy Peter is the firm's chairman, however Denise Coates owns half the yohaig code company and there's no doubt the success is mainly hers.

LISTEN: Profile: Denise Coates

Bet365 boss sees pay rise to ₤ 265m

Serious bettors tend to have a "system", an allegedly foolproof method that will continue bringing benefits. So what's her "system"?

Go back to the 1990s and there aren't lots of who would have bet on the small family-run chain of regional betting shops growing to such a size.

A lot is down to her mathematical skill, which was impressive from an early age. David Owen taught her at secondary school in the 1980s.

"She got everything right, just asked important concerns and was angelically acted. She was clearly off the scale. If we were talking Mensa, she 'd be in the top 1%," he told the BBC.

'More girls'

She attained a first-class degree in econometrics and trained as an accounting professional within the household firm, developing even more on the knowledge of the small chain that she got while working part-time throughout high school.

In addition to an extremely keen eye for figures - the heart of any successful bookmaker - she is likewise a moderniser.

Among her associates, Debbie Tatton, told the BBC: "When Denise came, she desired a closer relationship in between the staff and the clients. We ended up being a lot more professional, a lot more customer-focused. A lot of younger people started being available in, as well as a lot more women."

In 2000, Ms Coates upped the stakes and convinced the family to mortgage business to allow them to develop new software.

Her bro says she became fixated on the capacity for online gambling and became a pioneer because organization.

Setting up headquarters in a momentary building in a vehicle park, Ms Coates called it the supreme gamble, buying the domain name Bet365.com so that she might drive the yohaig code business because direction.

'Innate understanding'

"She's extremely intelligent and extremely determined," states Warwick Bartlett, from worldwide betting and video gaming consultants GBGC.

"She is likewise efficient in taking a look at the huge photo. Betfair was the innovator in in-play betting, however she was essentially the very first to harness mobile innovation, recognising that bettors anywhere would have the ability to bank on sporting events."

A big 70% of income now comes through wagering on tablets and phones.

She is helped, Mr Bartlett states, by the fact that she, distinctively, truly knows the industry. "The Coates household are third-generation bookies. They have found out business from parents and grandparents.

"She has a natural understanding of what the gambler is looking for. A great deal of the companies these days have managers that may have come from [other sectors] They are professional managers who attempt to use their understanding acquired from selling beans or margarines."

Ad debate

Mr Bartlett states close knowledge of another company has assisted with the in-play football income: Bet365 owns regional club Stoke City.

"Owning a football club provided an insight into the method the Premier League worked. Stoke City, not so successful itself, has played teams that truly are," he says.

"On top of the contact with the specialists they take advantage of protection through the sponsorship of the team. Bet365 has great direct exposure every time Stoke are featured."

Ms Coates' father is chairman of Stoke and has a greater public profile than she does.

But the name best associated with Bet365 is, naturally, Ray Winstone, whose gravelly tones utilized to advise punters to "bet in play - NOW!" before the advertisements were pulled.

Again, Warwick Bartlett states, Ms Coates got it right. "Using Ray confirms my point about 365, they understand their customers. He's a middle-aged guy and a little bit of a geezer.

"Cleverly, Bet365 use similar types to attract their consumers in other markets. In Australia, it's Samuel L Jackson - he comes across in the advert as an extremely cool guy."

Bet365 continues to keep one action ahead. It's moving into the US as the market there opens.

But while Denise Coates' business brain believes worldwide, she herself is most likely to stay rooted in Stoke.

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