Third Licence for Camelot

The National Lottery Commission (NLC) has said that Camelot Group plc are the preferred bidder for the third lottery licence that will run from 2009 to 2019. There were only two companies in the bid for this third licence, the losing company being Sugal & Damani of India. The third licence will make it three out of three for Camelot, which has been operating the National Lottery in the UK since it was enthusiastically introduced in November 1994.

The NLC said that the decision to award the third licence to Camelot Group plc was unanimous, and Dianne Thompson CBE (Camelot's Chief Executive) was delighted to hear the news.

"I am thrilled that Camelot has been chosen as the Commission's Preferred Bidder," she said. "I am particularly pleased for all our staff, who put more than 50,000 working days into writing the best possible bid. My thanks go to all of them, together with our shareholders for their investment in Camelot's bid.

"We now need to agree the final form of the licence. The competition is not over until this has been done. I have also activated the transition plans which we have carefully prepared in tandem with our bid over the last two years. So we have a very challenging period ahead."

Finalising the Licence and Enabling Agreement is an important step because, as Dianne said, the competition for the third licence is technically not over until it has been done. Camelot has until the end of August to "seal the deal", at which point the competition is officially closed.

After that, Camelot has said that it will implement a number of other initiatives to make sure that the National Lottery is in the best possible shape when the new licence comes into force on 1 February, 2009. These include the promotion of good causes, introducing new technology and looking at improving the regulation and taxation of the lottery. The company says that it will provide at least one update on the progress of these plans before the end of 2007.

Rounding off her comments, Dianne Thompson said: "I would like to put on record my thanks to the NLC for putting its trust in Camelot to develop and nurture The National Lottery in what will be its third decade. We won't let them down."

- 7/8/07