Bet365: UK's best-paid manager hits ₤ 323m jackpot

Bet365 manager Denise Coates has actually received a ₤ 323m payday, confirming her position as the UK's best paid executive.

The co-founder of the online gambling company was paid a ₤ 277m wage plus dividends as the appeal of online gaming continues to grow.

The firm's accounts, external show that in the year to end-March her wage rose from ₤ 220m on the previous duration.

But the rise comes as the market dealt with mounting criticism, including over children betting.

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The privately held company is owned collectively by Ms Coates and members of her direct family, including her sibling John, who is joint president, and her father Peter, the firm's chairman.

Ms Coates made a first-rate degree in econometrics - the application of statistical techniques to financial data - from Sheffield University before joining the High Street wagering firm, run by her daddy.

She determined the capacity of online betting in 2000 and bought the domain name Bet365.com so that she could drive the family business because direction.

Bet365 made a revenue before tax of ₤ 791m in the year, compared with ₤ 661m the year before.

The firm paid dividends of ₤ 92.5 m, half of which are believed to have gone to Ms Coates, as the owner of about half of Bet365's shares.

The group of companies owns Stoke City Football Club, which made a loss of ₤ 8.7 m in the year.

The High Pay Centre, a think tank which monitors earnings, said the timing of the release of the Bet365 results looked "cynical", provided it was simply after a basic election.

High Pay Centre executive director Luke Hildyard stated: "This looks like cynical timing, slipped out straight after a basic election campaign where excess wealth, taxes on the abundant and the vast gap in between those at the top and everyone else have actually been crucial issues."

He added: "Business success need to be incentivised and rewarded, however a payment a portion of this size would still pay for a lifestyle beyond the wildest dreams of the majority of people."

Mr Hildyard said there was "plainly scope" for those building up such sums to pay their workers more or contribute more in taxes.

Child betting

In October, Cardiff University research suggested that two-fifths of 11 to 16-year-olds had actually gambled in the previous year.

The study said this promotion code was "particularly worrying, considered that across the UK, most forms of commercial gaming are just legal for those aged 18 and over".

Slot machine were the most popular form of betting, followed by playing cards for cash with pals and scratchcards.

Dr Graham Moore of the Centre for the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions for Public Health Improvement stated at the time: "The proof shows that people who gamble previously in life are more likely to become issue bettors in the adult years."

However, a Gaming Commission study in October, external suggested that 11% of children had gambled within a week of the study being performed.

But in addition, the regulator alerted in July, external of research study that showed links between "problem gambling and suicidal thoughts or efforts".

Bet365 states it has "an undeviating dedication to provide industry-leading methods to gamer protection", including tracking client gambling, and says it will "terminate the [client] relationship if it feels the threat of damage is too high".

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15 October 2019