[3] From 1913 to 1956, Ladbrokes' clientele was exclusively drawn from the British aristocracy and upper classes, many of whom were members of the elite gentlemen's clubs in the St James's area of Central London.

[3] Following the end of World War II, Ladbrokes' fortunes were in steady decline, thanks to an austere postwar economic climate, a dwindling client base, and reluctance to change the firm's specialised approach to bookmaking.

The company first diversified outside the betting business by taking a major stake in the Dragonara Palace in Malta, a casino and hotel, which opened its first phase in 1964.

[7][8] From 1967 to 1973, Ladbrokes' retail betting business grew from less than 50 shops to 1,135, and the company expanded its ventures to include bingo clubs, hotels under the Dragonara brand, casinos in London, holiday centres, and real estate investments.

[4][21][25] Under the new management and direction of Peter George, Ladbrokes focused on its core areas of hotels and gambling, and began to divest other parts of its business.

[27] Ladbrokes' extensive portfolio of commercial and residential real estate, valued at £1 billion in 1993, was sold off in pieces and by March 1997 was down to £70 million.

[31] The UK Government, however, ordered Ladbrokes to sell Coral after the Monopolies and Mergers Commission found that the acquisition was anti-competitive.

[31] The Coral business, except for 59 shops in Ireland and Jersey, was sold in a management buyout financed by Morgan Grenfell Private Equity for £390 million in February 1999.

[34][35] Later that year, Ladbrokes renamed itself as Hilton Group plc, to reflect its increasing focus on the hotel business, which had come to represent over 80 per cent of the company's assets.

[56] In January 2018, Ladbrokes Coral and the Scottish Professional Football League agreed to extend the betting company's sponsorship agreement until at 2020.

[57] In March 2018, Ladbrokes completed their omnichannel integration strategy with software provider Playtech, offering single account functionality for all its online, mobile and retail products in the United Kingdom.

[60] On 31 July 2019, the UK Gambling Commission announced that Ladbrokes Coral would pay £5.9m for past failings in anti-money laundering and social responsibility.

An investigation found that the companies failed to put in place effective safeguards, to prevent consumers suffering gambling harm and against money laundering, between November 2014 and October 2017.