At present the UK’s National Lottery is run by Camelot and the company recently announced that sales had increased by GBP55 million (US$ 95.5 million) over the last six months. The National Lottery Regulator today announced the launch of the bidding process for the next term of the licence, to run for 10 years as opposed to the present 7 year term. Camelot is expected to receive strong competition from companies such as Ladbrokes and Australian lottery operator Tattersall’s. The Virgin Group, led by Richard Branson, may also bid after losing out to Camelot last time.

According to Robert Foster, chairman of the project board for the National Lottery Commission, the winning bid will be the consortium able to provide the highest forecast returns to good causes, including the 2012 Olympics. The bids must include the introduction of new technology, a robust IT platform expanding to cover mobile phones and the Internet, and the ability to cope with the transition period. It is likely that the Commission will actively seek bidders from the United States and Australasia as well as the United Kingdom. Any bid that proposes to base operations partly outside the United Kingdom will need to demonstrate that the regulatory duties of the Commission will not be impaired.

The new licence, the third, will commence in February 2009 and proposals before the submission of bids will be received between October 2006 and January 2007. A 20-month transition period for the winning bidder has been allowed before the licence comes into effect. The bids will cost an estimated GBP5 million to GBP10 million to prepare and the Commission has published a 44-page Statement of Main Principles, outlining the requirements for bidding. It is claimed that Britain’s lottery is one of the world’s most successful, and that over 70% of people nationally play regularly. The bidding competition will be a one-stage process and bidders will need to show that they have full operational, financial and technical capability to run the lottery. (E-11.08.05)

© Copyright 2005 CasinoCompendium



>>> return to archives
>>> return to frontpage