Betfair.com scoops Queen's Award

Double or quits?

By Tim Richardson • Get more from this author

Posted in Music and Media, 22nd April 2003 12:47 GMT

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An online bookie, which takes more than £50m in bets every week, has been honoured by the Queen for bringing gambling into the 21st Century.

The Sporting Exchange, which trades as Betfair.com, picked up an award for "outstanding innovation in the sports betting market" in this year's Queen's Award for Enterprise.

A spokesman for the Sporting Exchange was chuffed to bits with the top business award saying that it "adds significantly to [the company's] credibility".

The Sporting Exchange - which employs technology developed for financial markets - was among 120 companies from all different sectors to receive the coveted recognition.

Other techie winners include London-based Worth Global Style Network Ltd, which provides on-line information for the fashion and style industries.

The subscription-based service was launched in 1998 and has seen overseas earnings treble over the last three years.

Elsewhere, Security outfit mi2g Ltd also picked up an innovation award for its work in Internet security.

As with all the winners, the award means that companies will be able to use the Queen's Award Emblem for five years. ®

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