William Hill himself was born in 1903 and died in 1971, so he wasn’t much to do with the modern expansion, but his name very much is.īorn in Birmingham, Hill initially worked on his uncle’s farm after leaving school when he was aged 12. In the years that followed, the company grew exponentially, to the point that it now has locations in the likes of Colombia, Latvia and the United State of America. Having been taking bets since the 1920s, some officially and some very much not, Hill decided to create a betting company in 1934, which he then chose to name after himself.

When it comes to the names of people associated with bookmaking, few are as universally well-known as that of William Hill.