Britain's biggest betting families make the top three as latest tax list is revealed

The contribution the two biggest families in British betting make to the country's public finances was highlighted on Friday when the names Done and Coates featured in the top three in the Sunday Times Tax List.

It is the seventh time the paper has drawn up a table of who pays the most to the exchequer, published before the self-assessment deadline next Friday.

Fred and Peter Done and their families have moved up to second place this year after being calculated to have paid £273.4 million in tax.

The brothers, who are behind the bookmakers Betfred, come from a humble background in Salford, having left school at the age of 15 without any qualifications and then worked in their father’s bookmaking business.

A win on England's 1966 World Cup triumph enabled them to open their first shop the following year and they went on to build a huge estate, buying the Tote for £265m in 2011.

The brothers have a charitable trust and Fred Done once donated a day of Betfred’s profits from the first day of the Cheltenham Festival to the Royal Manchester children’s hospital.   

Denise, John and Peter Coates are down to third place in the Sunday Times list this year after the family were estimated to have paid £265m in tax.

They founded bet365 bookmakers, which has grown from its origins in a car park in Stoke-on-Trent to become one of the world's largest online gambling companies, and are also owners of Stoke City football club.

Chief executive officer Denise Coates was the highest taxpayer in Britain from 2019 to 2022 and is behind the foundation which bears her name and has given millions of pounds to charity.

Top of the list is billionaire hedge fund manager Chris Hohn, who is estimated to have paid £339.5m in tax.

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