CEO Secrets: from Ordsall Poverty to being A Billionaire
CEO Secrets: From Ordsall hardship to being a billionaire
24 November 2021
ByDougal Shaw
Business press reporter, BBC News
Peter Done talks about his journey from a deprived youth in Salford in the north of England, to becoming a self-made billionaire, for our service recommendations series CEO Secrets. He co-founded the wagering chain Betfred with his bro Fred Done in the late 1960s, before taking the helm of HR company Peninsula, which he runs today in Manchester.
Peter Done has an abiding memory from his youth: a pillow being pushed in his face.
The culprit was Fred, his elder brother by 4 years. He shared a bed with him up until he was 15 in the household's two-up, two-down in Ordsall, known as the "shanty towns of Salford". Their two siblings slept in the space too.
"To this day I have claustrophobia from the pillow," laughs Done junior. "I was most likely a bit saucy and he was larger than me."
But it was the effective relationship with his sibling that would be the key to his success in life. The brother or sisters found a path out of poverty by developing an empire of wagering stores, accumulating themselves a billion-pound family fortune, making them a regular component on the Sunday Times Rich List, external.
Both Done siblings left school at 15 without any credentials.
However, they found employment in a chain of wagering stores in Manchester. Like pubs, these establishments prospered in poor locations. They had actually just been legalised in the UK in 1961. There had been concerns about their social effect, as well as the extremely morality of gaming.
Done was managing a betting store at 17 although he legally could not get in the properties.
The owner valued him for his skill at mathematics. He took care of the books, mentally number crunching the stakes, earnings and losses.
CEO Secrets: From Ordsall hardship to being a billionaire
24 November 2021
ByDougal Shaw
Business press reporter, BBC News
Peter Done talks about his journey from a deprived youth in Salford in the north of England, to becoming a self-made billionaire, for our service recommendations series CEO Secrets. He co-founded the wagering chain Betfred with his bro Fred Done in the late 1960s, before taking the helm of HR company Peninsula, which he runs today in Manchester.
Peter Done has an abiding memory from his youth: a pillow being pushed in his face.
The culprit was Fred, his elder brother by 4 years. He shared a bed with him up until he was 15 in the household's two-up, two-down in Ordsall, known as the "shanty towns of Salford". Their two siblings slept in the space too.
"To this day I have claustrophobia from the pillow," laughs Done junior. "I was most likely a bit saucy and he was larger than me."
But it was the effective relationship with his sibling that would be the key to his success in life. The brother or sisters found a path out of poverty by developing an empire of wagering stores, accumulating themselves a billion-pound family fortune, making them a regular component on the Sunday Times Rich List, external.
Both Done siblings left school at 15 without any credentials.
However, they found employment in a chain of wagering stores in Manchester. Like pubs, these establishments prospered in poor locations. They had actually just been legalised in the UK in 1961. There had been concerns about their social effect, as well as the extremely morality of gaming.
Done was managing a betting store at 17 although he legally could not get in the properties.
The owner valued him for his skill at mathematics. He took care of the books, mentally number crunching the stakes, earnings and losses.