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Denise Coates the founder of sportsbetting website bet365.com, has been mentioned in the Queen's New Year's Honours list after being given a CBE for service to the community and business.

The CBE which stands for Commander of the Order of the British Empire, has been awarded since 1917 and recognises individual British citizens for their achievements in business, politics, science, community and popular culture.

Denise is the daughter of Peter Coates who is currently the Chairman of Stoke City football club. She set up a land based sportsbetting estate in 2000, starting with a few employees based in a temporary office. She later went on to develop the company into an online sportsbetting platform complete with trading team, ready to launch the online site in March 2001.

In 2005 the Gala Coral Group bought the land based bet365 operation for £40 million, the online side of the company is headed up by Coates as CEO and now employees 1700 people. Recent reports stated the company made a profit of £93.7 million with a turnover of £439 million.

Denise had this to say: "It's an incredible honour to receive this award. It would not have been possible without the fantastic support and commitment of everybody at bet365."