ByRebecca Marston
Business press reporter, BBC News

Denise Coates, the billionaire manager of Bet365, added another ₤ 323m to her wealth this promotion code week after the business her household founded racked up another year of huge profits.

She's been called the UK's most successful lady, with a fortune that Forbes publication puts in the region of ₤ 9.3 bn.

Most noticeably, she has actually made that mainly herself.

Bet365 is Stoke-on-Trent's biggest private sector employer, with more than 4,600 staff. It provides its countless around the world consumers sports wagering, poker, gambling establishment, video games and bingo. The company had a ₤ 3bn turnover in the year to the yohaig code end of March and a revenue before tax of ₤ 791m.

Ms Coates' brother John is joint president and her father Peter is the company's chairman, however Denise Coates owns half the business and there's no doubt the success is largely hers.

LISTEN: Profile: Denise Coates

Bet365 employer sees pay increase to ₤ 265m

Serious bettors tend to have a "system", an allegedly sure-fire approach that will keep on bringing rewards. So what's her "system"?

Go back to the 1990s and there aren't many who would have gambled on the small family-run chain of regional wagering stores growing to such a size.

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

"She got whatever right, only asked important questions and was angelically acted. She was clearly off the scale. If we were talking Mensa, she 'd be in the top 1%," he informed the BBC.

'More girls'

She achieved a first-rate degree in econometrics and trained as an accounting professional within the household firm, constructing even more on the knowledge of the little chain that she selected up while working part-time throughout high school.

In addition to a really keen eye for figures - the heart of any effective bookmaker - she is likewise a moderniser.

One of her colleagues, Debbie Tatton, informed the BBC: "When Denise came, she desired a better relationship between the staff and the consumers. We ended up being a lot more professional, a lot more customer-focused. A lot of more youthful individuals began coming in, in addition to a lot more women."

In 2000, Ms Coates upped the stakes and encouraged the family to mortgage business to permit them to establish brand-new software.

Her bro states she became focused on the capacity for online gaming and ended up being a leader in that organization.

Establishing headquarters in a short-lived structure in a parking lot, Ms Coates called it the ultimate gamble, purchasing the domain Bet365.com so that she could drive the organization in that instructions.

'Innate understanding'

"She's extremely smart and extremely determined," states Warwick Bartlett, from international wagering and video gaming experts GBGC.

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

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

She is helped, Mr Bartlett says, by the reality that she, distinctively, really understands the market. "The Coates family are third-generation bookies. They have found out business from moms and dads and grandparents.

"She has an inherent understanding of what the gambler is searching for. A great deal of the business these days have supervisors that might have come from [other sectors] They are professional managers who attempt to use their knowledge got from selling beans or margarines."

Ad debate

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

"Owning a football club provided an insight into the way the Premier League worked. Stoke City, not so effective itself, has played teams that actually are," he states.

"On top of the contact with the professionals they take advantage of protection through the sponsorship of the team. Bet365 has excellent exposure each time Stoke are featured."

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

But the name best connected with Bet365 is, of course, Ray Winstone, whose gravelly tones utilized to advise punters to "wager 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 comparable types to interest their consumers in other markets. In Australia, it's Samuel L Jackson - he stumbles upon in the advert as an extremely 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 international, she herself is most likely to remain rooted in Stoke.

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