Joe Coral

Joe Coral (born Joseph Kagarlitski, 11 December 1904 – 16 December 1996 ) was a bookmaker and entertainment businessman, most famous for founding Coral bookmakers.

Early life Coral was born as Joseph Kagarlitski in Warsaw, unable to speak any English. Believing that the surname would damage the chances of the family integrating, his mother chose the name 'Coral' as she was reading a book called The Coral Island at the time. which left both his arms crippled.

His major breakthrough came after he became the first London bookmaker to take bets on individual courses of the Waterloo Cup, and in 1942 he turned a £5,000 profit, establishing him as a bookmaker of repute.

He was one of the first to take advantage of the new legislation and opened his first licensed betting office in 1961. The new law was not intended to encourage betting and therefore shops were unattractive in appearance and devoid of any comforts.

Coral arranged a merger with another bookmaker, Mark Lane in 1971. By 1979, the company had become the Coral Leisure Group and had diversified to include a variety of other businesses, including casinos, hotels, restaurants, Pontins holiday camps, squash clubs, bingo clubs, and real estate.

In June 1977, Coral opened his first of two "Coral Island" entertainment complexes at the former Torquay Marine Spa, followed by a second in Blackpool the following year. The Coral Island name is shared with the book which gave Coral his adopted surname.

The Coral Island sites were large concrete entertainment complexes with music, gaming machines, and bars, as well as a small outdoor pool and sun terraces. The new attraction at Torquay cost £15m, and the opening was delayed by repeated vandalism.

In January 1981, the Coral Group was acquired by Bass plc. Whilst now owned by a large corporate body, Coral was made Life President of the company, and retained that position until his death.