ByRebecca Marston
Business reporter, BBC News

Denise Coates, the billionaire employer of Bet365, included another ₤ 323m to her wealth this week after the company her family established acquired another year of big earnings.

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

Most noticeably, she has made that largely herself.

Bet365 is Stoke-on-Trent's largest economic sector company, with more than 4,600 personnel. It uses its countless around the world consumers sports betting, poker, gambling establishment, games and bingo. The company had a ₤ 3bn turnover in the year to the end of March and a profit before tax of ₤ 791m.

Ms Coates' brother John is joint chief executive and her dad Peter is the yohaig code firm's chairman, however 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

Serious gamblers tend to have a "system", an apparently foolproof technique that will keep on bringing benefits. So what's her "system"?

Return to the 1990s and there aren't numerous who would have gambled on the small family-run chain of local wagering shops growing to such a size.

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

"She got everything right, just asked relevant concerns and was angelically acted. She was plainly off the scale. If we were talking Mensa, she 'd remain in the leading 1%," he informed the BBC.

'More ladies'

She accomplished a superior degree in econometrics and trained as an accounting professional within the family firm, constructing further on the understanding of the small chain that she selected up while working part-time throughout high school.

Along with a really keen eye for figures - the heart of any effective bookmaker - she is also a moderniser.

Among her coworkers, Debbie Tatton, told the BBC: "When Denise came, she desired a more detailed 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 people started can be found in, along with a lot more women."

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

Her sibling states she became focused on the capacity for online gaming and ended up being a pioneer because company.

Setting up headquarters in a temporary structure in a cars and truck park, Ms Coates called it the supreme gamble, purchasing the domain name Bet365.com so that she might drive the service in that instructions.

'Innate understanding'

"She's extremely intelligent and extremely identified," says Warwick Bartlett, from worldwide wagering and video gaming consultants GBGC.

"She is likewise capable of taking a look at the big photo. Betfair was the innovator in in-play betting, but she was generally the first to harness mobile technology, identifying that gamblers anywhere would be able to bet on sporting events."

A huge 70% of income now comes through banking on tablets and phones.

She is helped, Mr Bartlett says, by the truth that she, distinctively, actually understands the industry. "the yohaig code Coates household are third-generation bookies. They have found out the organization from parents and grandparents.

"She has a natural understanding of what the bettor is searching for. A lot of the companies nowadays have supervisors that might have originated from [other sectors] They are expert supervisors who try to use their understanding gained from selling beans or margarines."

Ad debate

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

"Owning a football club gave them an insight into the way the Premier League worked. Stoke City, not so successful itself, has played teams that really are," he says.

"On top of the contact with the professionals they benefit from protection through the yohaig code sponsorship of the group. Bet365 has terrific direct exposure whenever Stoke are included."

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

But the name best related to Bet365 is, naturally, Ray Winstone, whose gravelly tones used to advise punters to "wager in play - NOW!" before the advertisements were pulled.

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

"Cleverly, Bet365 usage comparable types to interest their clients in other markets. In Australia, it's Samuel L Jackson - he stumbles upon in the advert as a very cool guy."

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

But while Denise Coates' business brain thinks global, she herself is likely to stay rooted in Stoke.

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