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 ending up being a self-made billionaire, for our organization advice series CEO Secrets. He co-founded the betting chain Betfred with his brother 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 childhood: a pillow being pushed in his face.
The perpetrator was Fred, his elder bro by four years. He shared a bed with him up until he was 15 in the family's two-up, two-down in Ordsall, referred to as the "shanty towns of Salford". Their 2 sisters oversleeped the space too.
"To this day I have claustrophobia from the pillow," chuckles Done junior. "I was probably a bit cheeky and he was bigger than me."
But it was the effective relationship with his sibling that would be the secret to his success in life. The brother or sisters discovered a path out of hardship by constructing up an empire of betting shops, accumulating themselves a billion-pound household fortune, making them a routine component on the Sunday Times Rich List, external.
Both Done bros left school at 15 without any certifications.
However, they found work in a chain of betting stores in Manchester. Like pubs, these establishments prospered in bad areas. They had actually just been legalised in the UK in 1961. There had actually been issues about their social impact, in addition to the extremely morality of gambling.
Done was handling a betting shop at 17 despite the fact that he legally could not go into the properties.
The owner valued him for his ability at mathematics.
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 ending up being a self-made billionaire, for our organization advice series CEO Secrets. He co-founded the betting chain Betfred with his brother 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 childhood: a pillow being pushed in his face.
The perpetrator was Fred, his elder bro by four years. He shared a bed with him up until he was 15 in the family's two-up, two-down in Ordsall, referred to as the "shanty towns of Salford". Their 2 sisters oversleeped the space too.
"To this day I have claustrophobia from the pillow," chuckles Done junior. "I was probably a bit cheeky and he was bigger than me."
But it was the effective relationship with his sibling that would be the secret to his success in life. The brother or sisters discovered a path out of hardship by constructing up an empire of betting shops, accumulating themselves a billion-pound household fortune, making them a routine component on the Sunday Times Rich List, external.
Both Done bros left school at 15 without any certifications.
However, they found work in a chain of betting stores in Manchester. Like pubs, these establishments prospered in bad areas. They had actually just been legalised in the UK in 1961. There had actually been issues about their social impact, in addition to the extremely morality of gambling.
Done was handling a betting shop at 17 despite the fact that he legally could not go into the properties.
The owner valued him for his ability at mathematics.