Camelot Group

Last updated

Camelot Group
Company typePrivate
Industry Lottery
Founded1994
Defunct2024
FateAcquired by Allwyn AG (replacement operator of the National Lottery)
Headquarters Watford, England, UK
Area served
United Kingdom, Illinois
Key people
 Sir Keith Mills (Chairman)
Clare Swindell & Neil Brocklehurst (joint MD) [1]
Products National Lottery [N 1]
Illinois State Lottery [N 2]
RevenueIncrease2.svg £5.5 Billion GBP
Increase2.svg £47.2 Million GBP
Increase2.svg £32.4 Million GBP
Number of employees
1000
Parent Allwyn UK
Website www.camelotgroup.co.uk

The Camelot Group was an operator of lotteries, particularly the UK National Lottery from 1994 to 2024. [2]

Contents

It has also operated the Illinois State Lottery in the state of Illinois in the United States since 2018. The Camelot Group companies, of which Camelot UK Lotteries Limited is the UK National Lottery operating subsidiary, are owned by the holding company Premier Lotteries Investments UK Limited. The group's ultimate parent was the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, a Canadian investment fund until 2023 when Allwyn AG purchased Camelot. [3] [4]

History

Ticket stands for the UK National Lottery, operated by Camelot from 1994 to 2024 UK National Lottery stands in supermarket.jpg
Ticket stands for the UK National Lottery, operated by Camelot from 1994 to 2024

UK development

Camelot was formed as a consortium to bid for the National Lottery project. The major partners were International Computers Limited (ICL), supplying hardware, software, and systems integration expertise; Racal with responsibility for the communications network; and Cadbury Schweppes bringing experience in consumer marketing and knowledge of the world of corner-shop retailers. De La Rue brought knowledge of secure printing technology, and GTECH Corporation were brought in as the selected supplier of applications software. Staff were seconded from the partner companies, transferring to Camelot Group when the bid was won. [5]

Senior executives such as Tim Holley were enticed to join the project by the promise of large bonuses if the bid was successful. This caused embarrassment later when the incoming Labour government, in particular Chris Smith, the Culture Secretary, publicly criticised Camelot and its executives for excessively lavish salaries and bonus payments. [6]

The Camelot Group was awarded the National Lottery franchise in May 1994. [7] It won the bid against Sir Richard Branson who proposed to create a not-for-profit structure, an idea that didn't seduce the Gambling Commission. [8]

The Camelot name is reflected in the actual lottery machines used in the National Lottery draw, which are named for characters, places, and objects in Arthurian Legend (Guinevere, Lancelot, Excalibur, Arthur, etc.). [9]

In 2004, the transnational lottery EuroMillions entered the UK lottery market. [8]

Camelot's third licence period started on 31 January 2009; the money given to good causes was increased, and retailers' commission increased from 5% to 6%. The third licence was for a ten-year period with the option to extend by a further five years. [10] In March 2009, Camelot announced a programme of redundancies to cut costs throughout the company. [11]

In March 2012, the National Lottery Commission extended Camelot's Licence by four years to 2023, on condition that Camelot deliver an additional £1.7 billion in lottery funding to good causes. [12]

In October 2013, Camelot doubled the ticket price of its main National Lottery game, Lotto, to £2, with the aim of increasing ticket sales. [13] Analysts noted that in the subsequent two-year period, funds raised for good causes by the National Lottery fell by £100 million. [14]

In November 2017, Nigel Railton was named CEO of the Camelot group in amidst falling lottery ticket sales. He was previously the company's finance director, and had served as interim CEO since the departure of Andy Duncan in April 2017. [15]

The Watford headquarters was previously the site of a Scammell Lorries Limited factory. [16]

International development

In March 2010, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan from Canada bought Camelot for £389 million. [17] [18]

In October 2013, Premier Lotteries Ireland, a consortium including the Camelot Group with An Post, won the licence to run Ireland's lottery for 20 years until 2034. [19]

In January 2018, the Camelot group became the new operator of the Illinois State Lottery in the United States. The state of Illinois was the first in the US to privatize its lottery system. [20]

Loss of licence

A franchise renewal competition was started in 2019 and Camelot group faced multiple competing bids to maintain the contract, including one from Northern & Shell (operator of The Health Lottery). [21]

In March 2022 the Gambling commission announced that Camelot's National Lottery licence would not be renewed, and the franchise was awarded instead to Allwyn Entertainment Ltd, an international lottery operator owned by the Czech billionaire Karel Komárek. Camelot was held as the 'reserve applicant'. [22] [23] In November 2022, it was announced Allwyn Entertainment Ltd. had acquired Camelot UK Lotteries Limited. [24] The acquisition was completed in February 2023. [4]

In February 2023, Allwyn AG announced the acquisition of Camelot's UK Lotteries Limited from the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. [25] The deal was approved by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission. Although Allwyn did not disclose the exact value of the acquisition, it was estimated at 100 million pounds. [26]

Earnings

In 2017/18, the average pound (100p) spent on the National Lottery was distributed as follows: [27]

According to the Camelot Group,[ when? ] the UK Lottery created 30 millionaires every month. [8]

Controversies

2000/2001 franchise controversy

Two companies competed for the National Lottery franchise in 2001: Camelot, the incumbent operator, and a rival operator called "The People's Lottery", organised by Sir Richard Branson.

During the 2000 franchise bidding process, a technical problem with lottery terminals supplied by American company GTECH Corporation came to light. It was discovered that this technical problem may have inadvertently caused winners to be paid incorrect amounts. Because of this problem and the relationship between Camelot and GTECH, the National Lottery Commission recommended that the lottery franchise be awarded to the People's Lottery. GTECH had been a shareholder in Camelot Group but they sold their shareholding to the remaining shareholders, [28] who increased their stakes from 16.66% to 20%. [29] [30]

In August 2000, the chair of the National Lottery Commission, Dame Helena Shovelton, announced that neither party would be invited to run the National Lottery, claiming that neither party met the statutory requirements to run the lottery. It was felt that legal problems were responsible for the downfall of the People's Lottery bid, while the relationship between G-Tech and Camelot was the reason Camelot would not be invited to run the lottery.

By September 2000, it was clear that although neither party met the statutory requirements to run the lottery, the commission was going to award the franchise to the People's Lottery. [31] [30] Camelot initiated legal action, taking the commission to the high court for a judicial review. The High Court judges sided with Camelot, describing the commission's decision as "conspicuously unfair". The National Lottery Commission responded by dismissing the HM Treasury legal team who had been advising them. Dame Helena resigned shortly afterwards and was replaced by Lord Burns. [32] [30]

During November, the National Lottery Commission reopened the bidding process and both parties resubmitted their bids, the commission hoped to announce the winner by mid-December. On 19 December 2000 the commission announced that Camelot would be awarded the franchise, with voting 4–1 in favor of Camelot. [33] One member later resigned from the commission over the process, deeply unhappy that Camelot had been re-awarded the franchise. Sir Richard Branson threatened to take further legal action; but due to the prospect of a lengthy and costly legal battle, one which could have resulted in the National Lottery games being suspended, he did not proceed with the action. [30]

The governmental body the Gambling Commission is responsible for deciding who is awarded the franchise. The way the franchise was awarded to Camelot in 2001 caused some controversy, because state-owned Royal Mail held a 20% stake in the Camelot Group. [34]

2009 ticket fraud

In 2009 Giles Knibbs, a Camelot employee, conspired with a member of the public, Edward Putman, to claim a jackpot prize using a bogus ticket. Knibbs, who worked in Camelot's fraud department, found a way to forge lottery tickets bearing unclaimed winning numbers. Putman, of Kings Langley in Hertfordshire, was initially prosecuted in July 2012 for benefit fraud after failing to declare lottery winnings of £5 million whilst in receipt of welfare benefits. [35]

Putman refused to give Knibbs £1m they had agreed, and had him arrested after a row over their agreement. Putman charged him with criminal damage, burglary and blackmail. In October 2015 Knibbs took his own life, fearful of repercussions over his actions. [36]

Although police did not have enough evidence to bring a prosecution against Putman at the time, the case was investigated by the Gambling Commission in December 2016, who found that Camelot had breached the terms of its operating licence in failing to investigate the veracity of the prize claim before paying out and fined Camelot £3 million. [37] The case was subsequently investigated further and in October 2019 Putman was jailed for 9 years for defrauding the National Lottery of £2.5 million. [36] [38]

2018 failings fine

In August 2018, the Camelot Group was fined £1.15 million by the Gambling Commission because of the malfunctioning mobile app launched by the group, and for failing to publish a complete raffle prize list. Among other things, the mobile app would apply a non-winning label on a user's winning numbers. The Commission fined Camelot for five major failings, and observed 10 other failings that did not lead to further penalties. The Camelot Group accepted the fine and said it was sorry. [39]

2022 failings fine

In March 2022, the gambling commission announced a £3.15 million fine onto Camelot UK limited due to multiple failures on its mobile app. The failures included informing 20,000 players that their winning draw ticket had not won, charging players twice when only purchasing one ticket, and sending out marketing messages to 65,500 self-excluded customers who were not permitted to make purchases on the app. [40]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The National Lottery brand is owned by the Gambling Commission and was licensed to Camelot as part of the franchise agreements under which Camelot operated The National Lottery.
  2. ↑ The Illinois State Lottery, marketed as the Illinois Lottery, is a brand owned by the State of Illinois and marketed by Camelot on its behalf.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lottery</span> Gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize

A lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulation of lottery by governments. The most common regulations are prohibition of sale to minors and licensing of ticket vendors. Although lotteries were common in the United States and some other countries during the 19th century, by the beginning of the 20th century, most forms of gambling, including lotteries and sweepstakes, were illegal in the U.S. and most of Europe as well as many other countries. This remained so until well after World War II. In the 1960s, casinos and lotteries began to re-appear throughout the world as a means for governments to raise revenue without raising taxes.

This is a list of the largest jackpots, or prizes, awarded in various lotteries.

Racal Electronics plc was a British electronics company that was founded in 1950. Listed on the London Stock Exchange and once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, Racal was a diversified company, offering products including voice recorders and data recorders, point of sale terminals, laboratory instruments and military electronics, including radio and radar. At its height it was the third largest British electronics firm; it operated worldwide and employed over 30,000 people at its height. It was the parent company of Vodafone, before the mobile telephony provider was sold in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Lottery Community Fund</span> UK non-departmental public body

The National Lottery Community Fund, legally named the Big Lottery Fund, is a non-departmental public body responsible for distributing funds raised by the National Lottery for "good causes".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Online gambling</span> Gambling done through the internet

Online gambling is any kind of gambling conducted on the internet. This includes virtual poker, casinos, and sports betting. The first online gambling venue opened to the general public was ticketing for the Liechtenstein International Lottery in October 1994. Today, the market is worth around $40 billion globally each year, according to various estimates.

Gambling in the United Kingdom is regulated by the Gambling Commission on behalf of the government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) under the Gambling Act 2005. This Act of Parliament significantly updated the UK's gambling laws, including the introduction of a new structure of protections for children and vulnerable adults, as well as bringing the burgeoning Internet gaming sector within British regulation for the first time.

The National Lottery Commission was a public body set up on 1 April 1999 under the National Lottery Act 1998 to regulate the United Kingdom's National Lottery. It replaced the Director General and the Office of the National Lottery (Oflot). On 1 October 2013 it was abolished, with its responsibilities being assumed by the Gambling Commission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Light & Wonder</span> American electronic gaming and gambling company

Light & Wonder, Inc., formerly Scientific Games Corporation (SG), is an American corporation that provides gambling products and services. The company is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keith Mills</span> English entrepreneur (born 1950)

Sir Keith Edward Mills, is an English entrepreneur and was deputy chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gambling Commission</span> UK statutory authority

The Gambling Commission is an executive, non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for regulating gambling and supervising gaming law in Great Britain. Its remit covers arcades, betting, bingo, casinos, slot machines and lotteries, as well as remote gambling, but not spread betting. Free prize competitions and draws are free of the Commission's control under the "Gambling Act 2005".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Lottery (United Kingdom)</span> The National lottery in the United Kingdom

The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery established in 1994 in the United Kingdom. It is regulated by the Gambling Commission, and is operated by Allwyn Entertainment, who took over from Camelot Group on 1 February 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Lottery (Ireland)</span> State lottery in Ireland

The National Lottery is the state-licensed lottery of Ireland. Established in 1986 to raise funds for good causes, it began operations on 23 March 1987 when it sold its first scratchcards. It launched the weekly drawing game Lotto the following year, holding the first draw on 16 April 1988. It now offers EuroDreams draws on Mondays and Thursdays, EuroMillions and Plus draws on Tuesdays and Fridays, Lotto and Lotto Plus draws on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and two Daily Million draws each day. Its other games include televised bingo, an annual Millionaire Raffle, and online instant-win games. The minimum age to play all National Lottery games is 18.

A lottery is a form of gambling which involves selling numbered tickets and giving prizes to the holders of numbers drawn at random. Lotteries are outlawed by some governments, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing their own national (state) lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulation by governments, like allowing or prohibiting online sales of tickets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Health Lottery</span> British lottery

The Health Lottery is a lottery that operates on behalf of 12 local society lotteries across Great Britain. It was launched in October 2011 and runs five weekly draws on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Each week a different regional community interest company receives the funds, with 20% of ticket sale proceeds going to local health-related causes. It is operated by Northern and Shell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lottery fraud</span> Claiming a lottery prize by deception or forgery

Lottery fraud is any act committed to defraud a lottery game. A perpetrator attempts to win a jackpot prize through fraudulent means. The aim is to defraud the organisation running the lottery of money, or in the case of a stolen lottery ticket, to defraud an individual of their legitimately won prize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bede Gaming</span> Software company in United Kingdom

Bede Gaming Limited is a gambling platform and software company based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, with offices in London, England and Sofia, Bulgaria. It supplies gambling platforms and software to online casinos, online bingo operators, and lotteries in regulated markets. The platform handles more than £3 billion of wagers per year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EveryMatrix</span> Software company

EveryMatrix Ltd is a B2B iGaming software provider company founded in 2008 with its headquarters in Malta. EveryMatrix supplies online gambling platforms, products, and software to online casinos, sportsbook operators, and state-owned or private lotteries. EveryMatrix is a member of the European Lotteries Association and World Lotteries Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karel Komárek</span> Czech businessman (born 1969)

Karel Komárek is a Czech billionaire worth $9.5 billion as of October 2024. He is one of the wealthiest Czech citizens and the founder of the investment company KKCG. Komárek has faced criticism for his past business ties with Russia's Gazprom, which have drawn accusations of collaboration with Russian interests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KKCG</span> Swiss investment company

KKCG is a Swiss investment company headquartered in Lucerne that was founded in Prague by Czech entrepreneur Karel Komárek.

Nigel Railton is a British accountant and business executive who has been interim chair of Post Office Limited since May 2024. Previously, he had a long career with lottery operator Camelot Group where he was chief executive of Camelot UK from 2017 to 2023.

References

  1. ↑ Allwyn officially acquires Camelot's UK Lottery Solutions Group (https://www.casino.org/news/allwyn-completes-acquisition-of-uk-lottery-operator-camelot-uk/ Archived 10 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine ) (Accessed 10 March 2023)
  2. ↑ Hancock, Alice (14 November 2019). "UK National Lottery operator Camelot posts record first-half sales" . Financial Times . Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  3. ↑ "Group and Company Annual Report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2019". Premier Lotteries Investments UK Limited.
  4. 1 2 "CAMELOT STATEMENT ON ACQUISITION COMPLETION". Camelot Group. Archived from the original on 14 April 2023. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  5. ↑ Douglas, Andrew (December 2001). The National Lottery and Its Regulation: Process, Problems, and Personalities. A&C Black. p. 121. ISBN   9780826455543. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  6. ↑ "Interview - Chris Smith". The New Statesman. 8 November 1999. Archived from the original on 11 January 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  7. ↑ "Breaking News, World News & Multimedia". Archived from the original on 30 March 2023. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 Andrews, Mark (24 May 2019). "The National Lottery: It could still be you, 25 years on". www.shropshirestar.com. Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  9. ↑ Storry, Mike; Childs, Peter (25 November 2016). British Cultural Identities. Routledge. ISBN   9781315440583. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  10. ↑ "Camelot wins third lottery licence". Daily Express. 7 August 2007. Archived from the original on 13 January 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  11. ↑ "Camelot in lottery job cuts plan". BBC News. 13 March 2009. Archived from the original on 16 March 2009. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  12. ↑ "Chairman's & Chief Executive's statements for the year ended 31 March 2015" (PDF). Camelot UK Lotteries Limited. June 2015. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  13. ↑ "National Lottery Lotto ticket price doubles to £2". BBC News. 3 October 2013. Archived from the original on 6 October 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  14. ↑ Farey-Jones, Daniel (22 June 2015). "National Lottery good-cause money has fallen by £100m since the Lotto ticket price doubled". Third Sector . Archived from the original on 13 January 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  15. ↑ Ahmed, Murad (21 November 2017). "Camelot overhauls lottery as ticket sales fall" . Financial Times. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  16. ↑ "Scammell Centenary Gathering & Road Run – the Scammell Register". Archived from the original on 17 August 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  17. ↑ "BBC News - National Lottery owner Camelot sold to Canada teachers". BBC News. 25 March 2010. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  18. ↑ Brummer, Alex (2013). Britain for Sale: British Companies in Foreign Hands - The Hidden Threat to Our Economy. Random House. p. 249. ISBN   9781847940766. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  19. ↑ Smyth, Jamie (4 October 2013). "Camelot and An Post picked to run Ireland's lottery" . Financial Times. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  20. ↑ Sara Burnett. "Illinois Lottery's new manager projects $4B in sales". The State Journal-Register. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  21. ↑ "Coming for Camelot: The battle to land the UK's National Lottery". BBC News. 27 December 2021. Archived from the original on 14 January 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  22. ↑ "Camelot to lose licence to run National Lottery". BBC News. 15 March 2022. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  23. ↑ "Camelot to lose licence to run UK national lottery after 28 years". The Guardian. 15 March 2022. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  24. ↑ "UK's next National Lottery operator Allwyn acquires Camelot UK". uk.finance.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  25. ↑ "Allwyn Receives Go-Ahead to Acquire Camelot UK". Casinoreviews.net. 24 January 2023. Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  26. ↑ "UK's next National Lottery operator Allwyn acquires Camelot UK". Reuters.com. Archived from the original on 22 November 2022. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  27. ↑ "Gambling Commission website". Archived from the original on 14 May 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  28. ↑ Atkinson, Dan (17 January 2000). "GTech is back with Camelot". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  29. ↑ Commons, The Committee Office, House of. "House of Commons - Culture, Media and Sport - Minutes of Evidence". www.publications.parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 13 January 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  30. 1 2 3 4 "At a glance: Lottery saga". BBC News. 10 January 2001. Archived from the original on 2 October 2002. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  31. ↑ "National Lottery: Why the bids failed". BBC News. 23 August 2000. Archived from the original on 27 April 2006. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  32. ↑ "Lottery chairman resigns over 'media insults'". Daily Telegraph. 5 October 2000. Archived from the original on 27 February 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  33. ↑ "The lottery commission's statement". The Guardian. 19 December 2000. Archived from the original on 26 December 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  34. ↑ "The lottery's winners and losers". BBC News. 3 November 2004. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  35. ↑ Cockerell, Jennifer (3 July 2012). "Lottery winner rapist Edward Putman admits fraud". The Independent. Archived from the original on 23 October 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  36. 1 2 "Conman jailed for £2.5m fake lottery ticket fraud". BBC News. 4 October 2019. Archived from the original on 23 October 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  37. ↑ Marston, Rebecca (16 December 2016). "National Lottery firm Camelot fined for £2.5m suspect ticket win". BBC News. Archived from the original on 17 December 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  38. ↑ "Man convicted over £2.5m National Lottery fake ticket fraud". The Guardian. 4 October 2019. Archived from the original on 5 October 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  39. ↑ McCormick, Myles (23 August 2018). "UK National Lottery operator Camelot fined £1.15m by regulator" . Financial Times. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  40. ↑ "National Lottery operator to pay £3.15m fine". Gambling Commission. 22 March 2022. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.