Fred Done says he will walk away and take his money......

is he not obliged to sponsor as per terms of purchasing the tote. or has he found a way round that

please please go odious is to nice a phrase when you talk about this man

Could with a few more following him out the door.

* could do with

Does he walk or self-push?

KCUF FFO NEHT YDLAB.

And take your casinos with you.

From the Daily Mirror, May 2015:

Betfred boss offers staff on minimum wage quick cash loans with 39.9% interest



Ads for the loans, which do not reveal he is behind the firm, have been posted on BetFred’s staff intranet and on a Facebook site for gaming industry workers


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Getty Fred Done, Betfred

Loans: Fred Done, Betfred
   


 

Betting billionaire Fred Done is aiming for a jackpot by flogging high-interest loans to his own staff – most on the minimum wage.

The BetFred founder is majority shareholder in a firm offering betting shop workers quick cash at 39.9% APR.

Ads for the loans, which do not reveal he is behind the firm, have been posted on BetFred’s staff intranet and on a Facebook site for gaming industry workers.

Customers who borrow £1,000 over one year end up paying £1,399 back.

The adverts were removed from Facebook this week after an angry backlash from BetFred staff when they learned of Done’s role in the company.




Bloomberg Betfred

Loans: A Betfred shop


It is understood the ads remain on BetFred’s staff website and on screens in the chain of more than 1,350 shops.

A source said: “It’s shocking. Most BetFred staff are paid minimum wage to work 12-hour shifts and often have to put up with abuse from punters.

“For the multi-millionaire owner of the company to be trying to sell them extortionate loans which could arguably make life worse for them is taking the mick.”

Writing on the Facebook site I No Longer Fear Hell, I’ve Worked In A Betting Office, one employee said: “Whatever next? BetFred boss dishing out loans to his employees with an APR of 39.9 per cent. Disgraceful!!!!”

Another wrote: “40 per cent APR for his own employees??!! I mean ffs. Just goes to show how low that company will go.”

One post said: “How about you use the money you used to implement the idea and pay the staff properly.




Getty Cheltenham Festival - Cheltenham Gold Cup

Loan offer: Fred Done


"No need for them to come looking for a quick hand-out then!”

Done, 71, set up Golden Tree loan firm in 2009 and is a director. He also owns the Tote.

A BetFred employee said: “There is a lot of ill-feeling about this. The adverts suddenly appeared on the staff internet site and on the CCTV.

“At first, no-one had heard of Golden Tree but someone found out it was owned by Fred and word spread like wildfire.

“It feels he’s trying to prey on the ­hardship of his workers. If anything, he should be offering preferential rates, not massively inflated ones. It stinks.”

BetFred said: “We were worried that our staff might get into trouble by borrowing money off the likes of Wonga… The loans are a staff perk.”

Salt of the earth.

A loathsome individual.

That's shocking!

"The loans are a staff perk.”

The sale of the Tote to Done was a bit whiffy - he didn't have the money to buy it, so is paying in instalments - he couldn't guarantee to pay the Tote employees their pensions as per Tote conditions, and the Government (for some reason) refused to accept a management buy-out.

Of course the Tote Chief Executive took a handsomely paid role with Fred's new acquisition.....

What makes him think that not having his name polluting the Cheltenham Gold Cup is a bad thing for racing and punters, imo.

Bring back Peter McNeile and let him go after the corporate sponsors he foresaw - if racing grew a pair and stood behind Rust it will find there are lots of companies who'd love to sponsor these races, imho...

It could have all been so different

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/betfred-owner-fred-done-stabbed-2847808

I've worked for two well known major companies who offered staff loans.  Both were 0% interest on loans, repayments taken pro-rata from wages up to a maximum higher than the Bald coont is offering.  The way this 'individual' (won't call him a man as he is a renowned coward) treats his staff, racing and punters with such a lack of respect and utter contempt is absolutely disgusting and deserves retribution.  Don't let him walk away, make him go away, NOW!  I for one would love it if everything he has is taken away and if not he suffers a fate that will not allow him to enjoy his ill gotten gains...

Went right offf the **** when he scrapped the ten to follow.

A despicable individual....


for a Manc he's rancid *ank  !

Is that the same sweet old man that was on the morning line a few months ago?

We should all boycott the shops and course outlets - it's not as though there are no alternatives

A despicable individual. This outrage needs to be broadcast on a national scale. No let up until he is forced to scuttle away.

C**tfred.

What is particularly sad to see, is that perhaps Fred is correct, he may not now need horse racing.

However, when he started with nothing it was all about horse racing.   This is the  sport that has made him a near billionaire.

Now racing needs another £3 million a year from him and he feels he can just walk away.   Where is the gratitude?

If I had made my fortune on the back of something, I would like to think I would do my best to thank and reward that thing.

I'm sure some of the staff manage to rip the fredbet off by fiddling, good luck to them. It always amazes me when people who work for companies always say "we" when talking about them, they haven't cottoned on they are only a number to the bosses who will think nothing of getting rid of them if they wanted.

Slightly of topic but went into one of his shops the other day and found the staff to be just as pompous arrogant etc etc.Went in to place a reasonably sized bet(hopefully) needed to use the toilet and was promptly told toilets are for regular paying customers only lol i was the only person in the shop lol took my business elsewhere never never again will i enter a place or use any product he is involved with.

I would have gone into the toilet anyway, what are they going to do to you, Drag you out mid-p1ss?

Like the ads says..........When the fun stops.............STOP!

They need the toilets for the junkies to shoot up in in between their 30p rv f/casts you eejits - have a heart lads.

Andrew in Sweden    28 Nov 15 05:35 
We should all boycott the shops and course outlets - it's not as though there are no alternatives





But if he suddenly decided to end all restrictions most on here will queue up to give him their business.

"Writing on the Facebook site I No Longer Fear Hell, I’ve Worked In A Betting Office, one employee said: “Whatever next? BetFred boss dishing out loans to his employees with an APR of 39.9 per cent. Disgraceful!!!!”

whats next is subsidised opium smoothies from Fred's Golden Triangle Holdings ltd - (introductory offer valid for 6 months. full price thereafter).  That'll give the 'loans' busines all the core customers it needs.

And once the monster has bled you dry he'll take your women and children - because you'll give them up to get the really big doses of heroin you'll be needing by then.

I wouldn't take a sh*t in a Beftred.

If I had made my fortune on the back of something, I would like to think I would do my best to thank and reward that thing.

Excellent post from Swardean.

Has he sacked all the girls in the call centre?.....I am on the phone for 5 minutes before anybody answers......Never again, i will go elsewhere.

He is closing the Wigan Call Centre -

- which - coincidentally - is the old TOTE Headquarters.

A Bleak Day For Racing when he bought The Tote.

bought could think of a few more appropriate words

What is particularly sad to see, is that perhaps Fred is correct, he may not now need horse racing.

However, when he started with nothing it was all about horse racing.   This is the  sport that has made him a near billionaire.

Now racing needs another £3 million a year from him and he feels he can just walk away.   Where is the gratitude?

If I had made my fortune on the back of something, I would like to think I would do my best to thank and reward that thing


sounds similar to this place and the PC charge imo

Some people don't have a conscience or an ability to empathise.

Sad day for the Tote when he bought it. Should have sorted it's self out internally got rid of all the hangers-on and political appointees, could have reinvested all the profits back into racing. It could have been a shining example of a state run business.

Add to that list the contemptible Philip Davies MP. eaternaloptimist, who took over £10K in benefits from a company owned by Fred's brother and then argued for less restriction on FOBTs in parliament, imo...

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/dec/25/tory-mp-benefits-gambling-industry

FRED DONE = Canine Excrement.

I like Betfred. I've had k's off them.

Me too, but I still hate the coooont.

Was in a shop this morning.

Thommo said that, Mrs Thommo gives Fred her full support.

san quentin ya should have dropped your kecks and dumped a Richard on the shop floor  !

Fred's not interested in externalities he knows how the system works
he is an alright Jack character who thinks he deserves his riches and
won't lay a finger to help anyone out if it clashes with his way of
thinking.He epitomizes what is wrong with capitalism in the 21st Century.

C**tfred.

BentFred

a total cooont

He runs the tote you go in his shops and you can not compare tote odds with starting prices because he doesnot show tote prices he's even got a cheek to not show you what the winner paid on the tote after it has won it should be looked in too how this man obtained the tote

The Bald Knocker would have to close his whole estate without horse racing as he would not get a licence to trade..

Not sure why anyone would even take that excuse for a persons view about anything.

The freak has gone senile and the sooner he passes the better..

Fred's not interested in externalities he knows how the system works
he is an alright Jack character who thinks he deserves his riches and
won't lay a finger to help anyone out if it clashes with his way of
thinking.He epitomizes what is wrong with capitalism in the 21st Century.


Calm down fella.

The fraud is someone that got lucky with his large mouth and backing from people that you would not like to meet..

In the old days laid a bet but today in that old peoples home would not lay an egg...

as odious a little cn ut as he is,hes still odds on to be fav over hft in the "who would you rather have a beer with stakes"

Homme drinks on his own shirley !?   

^ always gets the first round in...  ( for himself obviously )....

he's in the boozer at 11.01   !!!!!   

Has fred ever had Semen rubbed into his Scalp ?

Is patrick starr someone that we should know...

His teacher would disown him with that punctuation...

Even halcyon days calls him shirley...

Y'am a case aye yer ?

Better my teacher than my own mother hft!

The local kids put any of your new windows through yet hft?

Appalling coverage on the Morning Line today. Wouldn't have explained anything to the casual observer.

Racing needs to stay united. The tracks who aren't onside should be named and shamed.

Homme, that made me    !

Who actually bets with Fred ?.......

hft

Who is patprick starr and why does he hate me...

I dont hate you hft,that honour is best left to your mum!

Have you found her fella...

1.01 landed!

(hft couldnt go two posts without using the word "fella or "freak")

I'll miss Fred being interviewed at Haydock on Temple Stakes day and giving us the benefit of his endlessly fascinating views on politics. As interesting to me as mine would be to him.

They say unless you have something nice to say about somebody it's best to say nothing at all. however........
Was working for an independent back in 2000, race week so was busier than usual when an obnoxious see you next Tuesday barges queue in front of regulars and holidaymakers wanting to get a good look at the new computer system we'd recently trialed and installed at 3 or 4 of our shops (i was the incumbent trying to teach colleagues how to use the system)
Most firms were still wary of the early slipcatch/slip capture systems available at that time and carbon slips were in use at 98% of betting shops in the country but this person of a bald persuausion and his entourage were being the biggest pain in the backside of any customers i had previously encountered. Trying to get bets on after the off nicking a price just things that would flag or result in a possible dispute.
Anyway to cut a much longer story short he bought out the firm i was working for then and the next firm i worked for (another independent) 4 years after that, both times resulting in me leaving rather than be left in his employ.

Not sure if the Rapido draws are still going as i haven't been in a betting shop at opening time for many years but there was some value to be had in the shops i worked in when the computer system was in it's infancy ;)

" I believe they've got an exaggerated view of what they're going to get from offshore bookmakers. We'll pay it, but at the right rate, and this isn't the right rate. They've made the wrong decision on it." Fred Done regarding ABP status payments.



When did this guy get so entitled, they say pride comes before a fall - lets hope so. As referred to earlier in the thread,  he and the rest of the gaming industry ( they are not bookmakers) are expert in lobbying and have erm.... treated MPs to hospitality who are  on select committees and the like. The expenses scandal/cash for honours /cash for access/cash for questions ect ect show how cheap many of our MPs are and how vulnerable our Parliamentary democracy is in the face of such powerful vested interests.

He's made his money out of the game now takes advantage of the entrepreneurs tax relief when carpetbagging businesses  like fork lift companies in Aberdeen, like his moral compass he's  miles from where he started out from.

Where are the journalist on this , where are the journalists in racing on anything  are there any left ? Lets face it they are presenters in hock , mortgaged to the hilt to bookie handouts , whilst playing footsie and guffawing  loudly with them on the Morning Line sofa.

There is too cosy a relationship between big business and government but what is in the BHA's favour is that the courts will not intervene between sporting bodies and their signed up members so the BHA have a lot of latitude. There needs to be nothing short of a Putinesque re writing of the rules. Fred keep the money you have made , you say you don't make much money out of horse racing now, well you won't miss it then and it certainly won't miss you.

Fred was mainly responsible for a keen racegoer (me) reducing my attendance on course from 2 or three days a week to zero. Closing the Tote Credit shops was the main reason although advancing age, crowded roads and the ready availability of live coverage at home all played a part.

Fred Done says he will walk away and take his money......


Well he wont fecking take mine

Done is currently in the process of closing down the Tote call centre in Wigan, leaving upwards of 100 people redundant a fortnight before Christmas. To rub salt into the wound, he is also refusing to honour the redundancy terms that were in their contracts when he bought the Tote.

One might suggest that this is the measure of the man, and the sort of business that he runs.

Tote staff forced to take a pay cut if they wanted to stay, due to betfred pay being the lowest in the industry

Dr Gonzo
Date Joined:    31 Aug 04
Add contact | Send message
30 Nov 15 12:45
Done is currently in the process of closing down the Tote call centre in Wigan, leaving upwards of 100 people redundant a fortnight before Christmas. To rub salt into the wound, he is also refusing to honour the redundancy terms that were in their contracts when he bought the Tote.


That should be in the press if it isn't already, he really couldn't give a sh1te about anything bar himself.

Fred has always been the lowest of the low as regards being an employer and indeed a person..

To call the whole family rancid would be to praise them and they are on a par with the Coates family from Stoke..
Imagine if the two families mated (perhaps they have) the offspring would have to be put down at birth or put in Ripley's Odditorium next to the three headed sheep...

Agree,he is and his company are a desperate set up, but all the online firms have got away
with murder for years as regards the taxation on their businesses and they're now crying wolf.
Hope the BHA and JCR stick to their guns and stand their ground, this lot need showing who's
running the show. The truth about the Tote sale is that he never wanted the pool business but had
to take it to get his hands on the shops and the FOBT'S, the whole thing still stinks, many brown
envelopes i'll wager.

Fred Done is a greedy, grubby individual. Dreadful man, even worse employer.

In the long term the whole racing industry will be better off without his type being involved in any way whatsoever.

He gave his immediate family (most of whom are "directors") the best of the Tote company cars when he got control of it, and made a large proportion of the Wigan Head Office redundant.

He then tried to buy out Tote Managers pension rights in order to avoid paying higher pensions than Betfred employees were on.

Words can't fully describe the tricks his company gets up to

Think he deserves the same fate as ISIS - all those in favour

lets all think collectively.right then think cancer and the horriblest form of it.then think who you would like to get it.

JOB DONE

He has a brother that runs a law firm that makes the bald fraudster look like the Archangel Gabriel...


Rancid family and if you had to bet Britain's worst employers it would AT THEIR PRICES be

4/5 Done 4/5 Coates.

I'd rather be employed by Rudoph Hess,

Feck me dambuster you are clueless..

Rudolph Hess was one of the "good" guys and tried to negotiate peace...

All you Labour freaks should be up in arms that the fella was ignored....

Yes , but I'm Jewish

dambust,
         I'm not sure if Fred is too, but he's certainly a first class Capitalist.

Somebody said he started with nothing; I cannot agree: I think he started with plenty of greed and a lot of cunning. Also, he must have been able to get his hands on a certain amount of funding money at the start.
It seems like some of the family are in the legal industry, so that's probably it.

Three points about their shops:

When they spread south, most of the shops had good, free, small toilets. No key needed from the staff, unlike most of the other chains.

Their B.o.G. all races was a great help. Only available in a few shops , but well worth getting.

HOWEVER, one day  I managed to get a winner - price taken 11/4, returned at 9/1.
They paid out, but restricted all further bets from me, ie. put the block on straightaway.
When a rival shop opened nearby, they "welcomed" me back.
I rarely take their terms now as they usually open up a point or two lower than other places.

Imo, the betting shops do not need racing as much nowadays and, even with the casinos etc, are struggling a bit, as is racing itself.
Sponsorship may become a serious issue.

His auld fella was a street bookie.

If he started with NOWT like he says , then he was ready to knock the first person who placed a bet with him, by the sound of it

Black still up to his old tricks, I see.

If ye weren't hiding away in Manx ye'd know the reality of life in your own Empire's hub.

'Tis more likely for toilets to be locked than not in most of the major cities of GB. The problem is not just mess, but the fact that drug-abusers use the kazhi to take their substances.

Sad, but true. Obviously, reality is not your thing - just like your PM - ye know fk all.

Great quote from Baldy here.

Racing's turf war

By CLAUDE DUVAL
 

JOHN McCRIRICK says Britain's biggest bookies are being 'blackmailed' into signing new deals with racing's rulers in a sponsorship war which threatens to put the sport in financial meltdown.

The BHA, Jockey Club and Arc racecourses insist bookies will NOT be able to sponsor races until they make full levy payments from overseas call-centres, foreign telephone bets and sign up to be what racing chiefs are calling 'authorised betting partners'.

The BHA claim £30million is being lost annually to the industry through 'leakage' of non-levy payments.

Yet the bookies point out they already sponsor over half of all races, worth nearly £13million a year.

It's a stand-off and, at the moment, racing is the loser.

Betfred - the biggest sponsors with 228 races worth £6.4million - Ladbrokes, Hills and Corals (all contributing over £3million) indicate they will NOT be forced into payments for remote betting.

William Hill's Jon Ivan-Duke said: "We signed a deal with Kempton to increase our sponsorship on the King George on Boxing Day every year until 2020.

"We want to put more money back into racing but, due to the BHA's position, now the Kempton agreement is obviously threatened."

Fred Done, Britain's top layer, started with one Salford betting-shop in 1967 and after buying the Tote now controls 1,350 outlets.

Defiant Done told me: "I'm not ducking any dues but they have bled us dry.

"I feel as though I have been kicked in the balls. I can't understand the BHA's high-handed attitude. Our off-shore contributions are tiny. When I bought the Tote four years ago I promised the Government £150million.

"I have over delivered on everything and blown that figure out of the water.

"For every £9 I make, £8 goes in tax and levy.

"I sponsor the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Haydock Sprint, Cambridgeshire, Cesarewitch and the Ebor.

"I also sponsor races at little tracks where they get crowds of only 300. This sponsorship money helps to keep the smaller tracks going.

"Yet when I go racing nobody in the corridors of power even shakes my hand! They just want my cash and I am never made to feel welcome.

"If I treated my customers like this I'd expect all shops to be empty!"

McCririck, king of the TV betting jungle until he was forced out by Channel 4, told me: "Racing's toffs are trying to blackmail the bookies but they haven't got anything on them.

"Morally it may be wrong for bookies not to pay the full foreign levy but, legally, they are not doing anything wrong.

"For years, racing has been happy to take the bookies' sponsorship money but, at the same time, they have always been holding their noses.

"People who run racing loathe and despise bookmakers. They think bookies degrade the game and that all the corruption in racing is their fault.

"Yet the BHA are now taking the biggest gamble of all. Alienate the bookies and racing will be in trouble.

"Of the big layers only Betfair, Bet365 and 32Red have signed up to the BHA's new 'authorised partners' agreement."

Crabbie's have decided not to sponsor the Grand National after 2016.

Saturday's Tingle Creek, previously sponsored by 888sport, now carries the Betfair banner.

Big Mac added: "Aintree were told bookies would not be allowed to sponsor the National because of the perceived stigma.

"That's when local worthies Crabbie's came in.

"Racing's rulers are anti-punters and antibookies, who they see as leeches. Those in charge of the sport dream of a Tote monopoly.

"The BHA's chief executive Nick Rust, an ex-Ladbrokes bookie, is playing a game of poker and it's a big gamble.

"He is confident the bookies will cave in and come back cap in hand with their begging bowl.

"Racing's funding future is on a knife-edge with the January 1 deadline."

The Jockey Club think they already have a list of potential sponsors for the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Big deal!

Despite repeated approaches to the BHA yesterday - whose dim staff did not even know Rust's latest TV interview had been shown TWICE from what looked to me like a northern graveyard - declined to comment.

Eventually I managed to squeeze the following words from one spokesman who told me: "We are battening down the hatches for a big announcement later this week. Nick will speak then."

Big independent tracks Goodwood, York, Newbury and Ascot, who have snubbed the new agreement, may hold the key. Some bookies have agreed a payment of four per cent on offshore profits. The BHA are demanding nine per cent.

This is potentially the mother of all racing wars ... with an uneasy ceasefire ticking away until the New Year.