High Court upholds British National Lottery tender against legal challenge
Richard Desmond’s The New Lottery Company has lost its claim against the Gambling Commission’s tender, which awarded the National Lottery to Allwyn.
UK.- Richard Desmond’s Northern & Shell group’s The New Lottery Company (TNLC) has lost its legal challenge against the British Gambling Commission’s tender process for the National Lottery. The company had challenged the result after losing the tender for the Fourth National Lottery licence to Allwyn in 2022.
TNLC passed the initial stage in the Gambling Commission’s tender, which assessed applicants’ financial capacity. However, it was excluded from the final selection of candidates “due to failures in mandatory pass/fail criteria”. The applicants were whittled down to Allwyn and the incumbent Camelot, which had run the lottery since its inception in 1994.
TNLC argued that the Gambling Commission improperly allowed modifications to the transition timetable. However, Justice Joanna Smith at the High Court of England and Wales rejected this argument, affirming that the Commission could make adjustments “in a response to delivery risks,” noting that transferring such a large contract required “a compression of time available to achieve transition” amid “ongoing implementation challenges.”
Justice Smith dismissed TNLC’s challenge, ruling that the process had “no mitigating errors” and that TNLC had failed to meet mandatory criteria. Her judgment highlighted that the tender process was designed to prioritise “returns to good causes while maintaining high standards of player protection and propriety” and had independent oversight throughout.
The ruling is another loss for Desmond, a former pornography publisher, following the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s dismissal last month of the New Lottery Company’s claim that Camelot had received an unlawful £70m marketing subsidy.
The trial ran between October 9 and December 2 last year, with an additional day on January 13. Camelot had also raised legal objections against the licence decision initially but later withdrew them after Allwyn acquired its operations in February 2023. Allwyn took over the National Lottery in February 2024.
Gambling Commission response
The Gambling Commission has welcomed the High Court’s decision. In its statement, the regulator said: “This is an important judgment for the future of The National Lottery that we welcome. This judgment makes clear that the Gambling Commission ran a fair and robust competition to award the Fourth National Lottery Licence, and that none of the contested changes to the Licence, in the course of its implementation, were substantial or contrary to the relevant procurement regulations.
“The judgment gives resounding support to Good Causes by enabling Allwyn, with oversight from the Commission, to continue with their plans of investment in The National Lottery without further distraction. Our priority remains to continue regulating The National Lottery for the benefit of participants and Good Causes.
“The National Lottery is one of the world’s largest lotteries and since launching in 1994, National Lottery players have collectively raised more than £52bn for more than 670,000 Good Causes across the UK, transforming lives and contributing to the arts, sport, heritage and communities.
Allwyn said in a statement: “The Gambling Commission ran a fair and lawful licence competition, properly awarding the Fourth National Lottery Licence to Allwyn.”
The company described the ruling as a “clear and comprehensive judgment” that provides certainty for its stewardship of the Lottery until 2034. Allwyn added that it is now focused on innovation and boosting funding for good causes, noting that the decision closes the door on “a long-running series of allegations” about the competition’s integrity.
