The massive success of online gambling group Betfair has again been reflected in the latest business accolade for founders Andrew Black and Edward Wray, who earlier this month were again honoured at the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards in London.
The duo’s success was recognised in the UK’s Media, Entertainment And Communications section of the awards, one of the most prestigious business honours in Britain.
Betfair was launched in 2000 and has twice been named as the Company Of The Year by the Confederation Of British Industry. In addition, it remains one of the only betting companies to win a Queen’s Award For Enterprise twice after being recognised in 2003 and 2008.
Licensed in the UK, Australia, Germany, Austria, Italy and Malta, Betfair employs over 1 500 people and its founders won Ernst And Young’s Emerging Entrepreneurs Of The Year Award in 2002.
The 2009 ‘UK Overall Entrepreneur Of The Year’ award went to Michael Spencer, chief executive of interdealer broker ICAP plc, a familiar figure in online gambling investment circles. He founded ICAP with four people 23 years ago and now employes over 4 000 people in a FTSE 100 company with annual revenues in excess of GBP 1.5 billion.