William Hill: From Bookmaking on a Bicycle to a Billion-Dollar Empire

William Hill, one of the most well-known names in the world of sports betting and gambling, has been a fixture on the British high street for decades. In 2020, American casino giant Caesars Entertainment bought his eponymous company for a staggering £2.9 billion. But who was William Hill, and how did he build his business empire?

From Birmingham to London: Hill’s Early Adventures

William Hill, born in 1903 in Birmingham, England, was the second son of a strict carriage painter. At the age of 12, Hill dropped out of school, ran away from his parents, and ended up on his uncle’s farm. It was here that he first began to dabble in bookmaking, collecting bets on his motorbike.

During World War I, Hill worked as an apprentice at the BSA works in Birmingham, but he was already starting to make a name for himself as a bookmaker. After the war, Hill went bankrupt with bookmaking but re-started his business with smaller bets and moved to London.

Building a Business: The Early Days of William Hill

Hill became a co-owner of Northolt Park racecourse in 1929, where pony races were held. Starting with pony racing, he later switched to greyhound racing and did well enough to rent an office in Jermyn Street, where he exploited a loophole that allowed credit or postal betting but not cash.

Mr William Hill

Northolt Park racecourse

When William Hill was founded in 1934, the industry had no governing body, and bookies were not even legally obliged to pay a customer’s winning bet.

In 1944, William Hill made history by becoming the first bookie to offer fixed odds on soccer betting, producing the first fixed-odds soccer coupon.

The Expansion of William Hill

In 1960, Ladbrokes competitors began to dabble in soccer betting and even copied the design of William’s coupon. He couldn’t tolerate such disrespect, as he was the first in Britain to accept soccer bets, and he was able to get a £1 monetary compensation through a court case, insisting on this amount as a matter of principle.

Hill built his business on trust, serving some 500,000 clients by the 1960s in an industry often associated with shady characters and dodgy dealings.

In 1961, legal betting shops were established, and Hill referred to them as a “cancer on society”.

Despite his objections, he eventually opened his own betting shop five years later.

William Hill Ltd.: The Legacy of a Betting Legend

After retiring in 1970, Hill passed away that same year. Three years later, in 1973, William Hill Ltd. merged with Sears Holdings to create a formidable corporation. Although Sears later sold its share, Hill’s company continued to grow and broaden its range of business ventures.

By the turn of the millennium, William Hill had made significant strides in the betting industry. They launched an offshore phone-in betting shop, utilizing a call center in Athlone, Ireland. The same year, they became the first UK bookmaker to offer tax-free betting through the Internet.

In September 2020, Caesars Entertainment acquired William Hill for £2.9 billion, paying £2.72 per share, but despite the change in ownership, William Hill’s legacy remains undeniable.

Interesting facts

• Although Ladbrokes is often credited with being the first UK-licensed betting shop to offer fixed odds, it was actually William Hill who made history in 1944 by offering the first fixed-odds soccer coupon.
• In addition to his success in betting, Hill was also interested about horse breeding. In 1943, he bought a stud at Whitsbury in Hampshire to pursue his passion for breeding horses.
• Despite his success, William Hill experienced a major loss when none of the players at Ascot supported his £4,000 bet. This loss was so devastating that he gave up betting on horse racing fo William Hill’s company, Holder’s Investment Trust, was listed on the London Stock Exchange from 1955 to 1961, and this decision brought Hill around £5 million.