Bookie Fred Done is about to make one of the biggest gambles of his working life.

He has already committed more than £500,000 to a new project that will bring 60 precious jobs into the heart of Salford and pleasure to punters up and down the country.

On March 4, Done throws open the doors to a hi-tech telephone betting centre in Bexley Square as he starts another remarkable chapter in a rags to riches story.

Sprightly 58-year-old Done is one of Britain’s true working class heroes. From an eight-year-old hustling sixpences out of housewives in Ordsall, to a multi-millionaire owner of 310 shops with a turnover of more than £325m a year and staff numbering 1,600, Done’s story is remarkable.

He left Trafford Road School with no qualifications, but an honours degree in ‘‘streetwise’’ and was soon putting his knowledge to good use as a trainee draughtsman.

‘‘I spent more time studying racing form in the toilet and taking bets off my colleagues than I did doing any draughtsmanship,’’ admitted the lifelong United fan. ‘‘I was earning £3 per week in wages, but I was doubling that in what I took off the blokes in bets. There wasn’t much incentive to study. It was at that time that I also learned my harshest gambling lesson, when I blew all my money on a ‘sure thing’ from a stable worker.

‘‘It taught me the grass was much greener on the other side.’’

Branching out

Armed with that important knowledge, 21-year-old Done eventually settled down to work as a bookies’ credit manager and three years later, with his brother Peter, he branched out on his own.

The first shop was in Pendleton, but it didn’t take them long to expand. And next month, the pair who are the biggest independent bookmakers in Britain will open Done Brothers branches numbers 311 and 312.

Done, a respected figure in the industry, has built up a reputation as The Bonus King — and for paying out early whenever his beloved Reds get within shouting distance of a trophy.

His success has been based on his ability to move with the times and his latest venture is an attempt to do just that.

‘‘When we first started, 95 per cent of the wagers we took were on horse racing, but that is changing rapidly,’’ he explained.

‘‘Now that figure is down to 65 per cent, with football the biggest growth area thanks to the advent of satellite television. Half of all business is done on the telephone.

Betters ‘coming home’

‘‘Since the recent abolition of betting tax, the big punters who used to bet off-shore, where their wagers were tax free, have now come back to the United Kingdom.

‘‘A lot of their bets are on sports like golf tournaments and tennis and rugby matches. Telephone betting centres allow punters to wager while the events are taking place with the odds changing with every run, goal, wicket or holed putt. We want to capture as much of that extra business as we can.’’

If his predictions are correct, he believes turnover at the centre will jump from £16 million in the first year to £200 million in year five. He also expects to treble the workforce.

‘‘We hope to have it up and running smoothly in time for the Cheltenham Festival,’’ reports operations manager Wayne Stevenson, a City fan who jokes he was employed by Red Fred on an ‘equal opportunities’ programme.

‘‘Punters will be able to bet using credit or debit accounts and using switch cards or their equivalent. Once they have had one bet and are registered then the next should take only forty seconds.’’

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