Done brothers and Coates family among Britain’s biggest taxpayers
Owners of Betfred and bet365 handed over a combined £538m to HMRC, The Sunday Times has revealed in its annual tax rundown
Fred and Peter Done, the brothers behind retail and online bookmaker Betfred, are now the second-biggest taxpayers in Britain, according to figures published in The Sunday Times Tax List 2025.
The pair, who are aged 81 and 77, respectively, paid £273.4m to HMRC in the latest financial year, which was a 33% increase on the £204.6m estimated in last year’s edition.
Denise, John and Peter Coates, who own online betting empire bet365, are in third spot with an estimated £265m in tax paid, although this was down almost 30% on the £375.9m the family stumped up the prior year.
Last year, the Coates family and Done brothers were positioned third and fourth, respectively.
The Sunday Times Rich List, published in May 2024, estimated the Coates’ family fortune to have fallen £1.3bn to £7.4bn, putting them in 20th position among Britain’s wealthiest.
Accounts published by the company in early January revealed revenue at the Stoke-on-Trent-based operator grew 9% year on year (YoY) to £3.7bn and operating profit neared £400m for the 53 weeks to 31 March 2024.
What’s more, the filing with Companies House showed CEO Denise Coates – Britian’s best paid woman – slashed her base salary from £220.7m to £94.7m. She topped that up with around £63m in dividends.
Leading the list of 100 of Britain’s biggest taxpayers this time around is hedge fund tycoon Sir Chris Hohn. The 58-year-old paid an estimated £339.5m in tax.
Rounding out the top five are Stephen Rubin and family (sportswear), who paid £209.9m, and Mark and Lindy O’Hara (finance) with a contribution of £204m.
The Sunday Times highlighted how individuals and families from the gambling sector have contributed £3.7bn to the public finances over the course of the seven editions of the annual rundown, more than any other sector.
The newspaper also reported that a record 15 individuals or families had incurred tax liabilities of more than £100m. This was up from nine in 2024.
However, less than half of this year’s entries, 46, were found to be paying more in the 2025 list than the previous edition.
The rankings include corporation tax, dividend tax, capital gains tax, income tax and national insurance.
It also takes into account duties paid by the gambling industry, according to the most recent company accounts – filed by 10 January.