Camelot to challenge National Lottery license decision

Camelot said it will launch legal proceedings in the High Court against the Gambling Commission’s decision to select Allwyn Entertainment as its preferred applicant to run the National Lottery for the Fourth Licence.

Camelot has held the lottery licence since its inception in 1994, and the current licence will expire in 2024. Camelot has been named reserve applicant for the Fourth Licence.

“We are launching a legal challenge today in our capacity as an applicant for the Fourth Licence because we firmly believe that the Gambling Commission has got this decision badly wrong. When we received the result, we were shocked by aspects of the decision,” Nigel Railton, Camelot chief executive said.

Railton added that the Commission failed to provide a satisfactory response on the decision despite a lengthy correspondence.

“We are therefore left with no choice but to ask the court to establish what happened. Irrespective of Camelot's dual roles as current operator and applicant for the next National Lottery licence, the competition is one of the largest UK government-sponsored procurements and the process deserves independent scrutiny.

“Separately, more than 1,000 Camelot employees work tirelessly to successfully operate The National Lottery under the current licence and, at the very least, they are owed a proper explanation,” he said.

Responding to the development, the Gambling Commission said it regrets Camelot’s decision to bring legal proceedings.

“The competition and our evaluation have been carried out fairly and lawfully in accordance with our statutory duties, and we are confident that a court would come to that conclusion,” it said in a statement.

The regulator added that the selection of the preferred applicant followed “a fair, open and robust competition” which received four applications at the final stage, the highest number since 1994.

“We are confident that we have run a fair and robust competition. We have taken every step possible to ensure a level playing field for all interested parties, to enable us to appoint a licensee who will engage and protect players, run the National Lottery with integrity and ensure the National Lottery continues to support good causes and their contribution to society,” the Commission said.