Online Gambling - Ladbrokes.co.uk

The company was founded by Messrs Schwind and Pendleton in 1886 as commission agents for horses trained at Ladbroke Hall in Worcestershire. The name Ladbrokes was adopted in 1902 when one Arthur Bendir joined the partnership and operations were moved to London.

Ladbrokes’ first London offices were situated in the vicinity of the Strand, later moving to Hanover Square in 1906 and, in 1913, the firm graduated to Six Old Burlington Street, Mayfair. During this time and until the acquisition of the firm by Mark Stein (aka Max Parker) and his nephew, Cyril Stein in 1956, Ladbrokes’ clientele was exclusively drawn from the ranks of the British aristocracy and upper classes. Many of whom were members of the elite gentlemen clubs in the St James’s area of Central London.

Unusual for the times, Ladbrokes’ principal long-time representative on British racecourses was a woman, Mrs Helen Vernet. Having joined the firm at behest of Arthur Bendir in 1919, she was made a partner in 1928 and remained with the firm until shortly before her death in 1956, at the age of 80. Following the end of World War II the fortunes of Ladbrokes were in steady decline, brought about by a combination of an austere after-war economic climate, a dwindling client base and reluctance to change the firm’s specialised approach to bookmaking. As a result, in 1956 the Company was acquired by Mark Stein and his then 28 year-old nephew, Cyril Stein for a reported £100,000.

In 1961 the government legalised betting shops under the Betting and Gaming Act. As managing director, Stein used profits from the traditional areas of the business to establish a chain of betting shops: he was the first to introduce fixed odds football betting. On the last Saturday of 1963 football results cost the Company over £1 million. In 1966 Cyril Stein became chairman of Ladbrokes and the following year floated the company on the London Stock Exchange at an initial valuation of £1 million. Under his chairmanship, the company acquired Texas Homecare in 1986 and in 1995 sold it to J Sainsbury plc who integrated it into its own Homebase chain. In 1989 Ladbrokes also acquired Vernons Football Pools. In 1993, at the age of 65, Cyril Stein retired as chairman – at which time Ladbrokes was valued at near £2 billion on the London Stock Exchange. In 1999 the company acquired the Stakis Hotel chain and rebranded itself as Hilton Group plc. On 29 December 2005 the company announced the sale of its hotel operations to Hilton Hotels Corporation for £3.3bn and once more rebranded itself Ladbrokes plc.