Mark Harvey: Your brand has real momentum in a category of large, well-established players. What is your unique proposition?
William Woodhams: In our sector, big operators pump out the same lacklustre product. It presented the exciting opportunity to offer something different and, more importantly, better. Our focus is customer service. In general, the sector performance is 4/10. Ours is 9/10. Disrupting a market can be an intimidating experience, but this difference reminds us we are doing the right thing.
What have you learned from the largest companies in your space – and what do you do differently to them?
Technology is critical. Sadly consumers don’t think 'you’re a small, niche luxury provider, I don’t expect your tech to be as good as the market leaders'. We invest in leading products to level our competitors, then we elevate our offerings through great, personal customer service and experience. Our competitors set the benchmark for how not to top the market. Whatever they do, we do the opposite.
How does your company benefit the wider community?
We support UK racing to the tune of £3mn a year. This contribution has earned us the respect of the racing industry; we are now a leader of it. We are also industry-leading in compliance, KYC and safer gambling. We are seen as a beacon of light in our work to create a safe gambling environment in an unfavourably viewed sector.
What is your approach to sustainability?
It’s challenging for us as our sector cannot be B Corp certified – which is bonkers. But we work hard to be our best and we have one of the smallest footprints of any business our size.
Luxury brands tend to think in generations, not years. What is your long-term vision for the company – and what plans are you setting in place now to make that happen?
2024 has been a year of changing everything for the future. We are investing £5m in new technology and buying assets in the sports media landscape. We want to become a leader in sports media and we have created The Racing App. In the next six months it will be the UK’s most popular racing data resource (and it’s free!).
What’s been your proudest achievement with your company so far?
The Fitzdares Club really gave us an edge in the market but really, it was hitting £500mn turnover that showed that the business had legs and that it should be taken seriously.
Can you tell us one major hurdle you encountered with your company, and how you overcame it?
Nurturing staff from within has been challenging as it is very tempting to ‘buy in’ industry veterans. But our sector doesn’t think like we do, so it’s critical we find team members thank think differently. We have maintained our focus on educating our staff in-house and it has paid off.
What is your key piece of advice you’d have for another luxury brand, like yours, looking to disrupt an established category?
I hate the phrase 'be true to yourself' but it is the single most important thing to do. Consumers love a brand that makes its own moves and reflects its DNA in everything it does. Have a vision and stick with it. Once you have the framework, it’s very easy to be agile and talk out loud.