The richest woman in Britain has built her fortune in the gambling industry and now has a beautiful home to show for it.
Denise Coates is a billionaire and the co-founder and joint CEO of bet365, an online sports betting site, with Forbes estimating her net worth at £9.5 billion in 2024.
Coates entered the gambling industry working in her family’s betting business, Provincial Racing, growing it to about 50 betting shops before launching Bet365 in 2001, after purchasing the domain on eBay for $25,000 (£19,000).
She later grew Bet365 into one of the world’s largest online gambling companies and has also established the Denise Coates Foundation to support various charitable causes.
The highest-paid CEO in Britain for several years, she moved into her sprawling £90 million last year with her family, following five years of extensive construction.
Local resident Carole Graham, 70, told the Daily Mail: “We’d all love to have a look around the place—it’s a shame she couldn’t have invited us to have Christmas drinks!
“You hear her leave in the morning in one of her helicopters—she has two.”
She added: “People do get jealous and bitter about her, but I think, good on her.”
The mansion boasts an Olympic-sized swimming pool, two helicopters, a custom-built water slide for her children, and a range of luxurious features, including tennis courts and a boathouse.
However, the property has faced some criticism, and Graham expressed her relief that the renovation was finally completed, noting that there were as many as 100 vans and lorries coming and going at one point.
John Prescott, 80, said: “The place is so huge that it always needs work.”
“The front looks like a monstrosity, like the entrance to a supermarket.”
To expand her extensive property, Coates purchased surrounding homes, and it is believed that neighbouring farmer Ed Nield was paid over £1 million to abandon plans for a canal-side marina, allowing her to develop her estate.
However, farmer Edward Colclough, whose property borders her planned estate, has refused to sell and said he would never sell the land to Coates.
The mansion was designed by Foster and Partners, renowned for their work on skyscrapers, airports, and commercial buildings.