National Lottery bid results could face delays

Bidders for the operations of the National Lottery may have to wait until the end of the year as the Government may change responsibility.

UK.- The UK government is considering shifting the responsibility for the National Lottery to a different department. According to a report from i, the companies involved in the bidding process will have to wait until the end of the year.

The news outlet reported that the lead financial adviser for the licence competition for the National Lottery, Rothschild & Co, will inform bidders that the awarding process will be delayed for two to three months.

Moreover, Prime Minister Boris Johnson may be interested in giving the power of the bidding process to the Cabinet Office or another department, instead of if staying with the Department of Culture, Digital, Media and Sport.

“The bidders will be told by Rothschild this week that the bidding process is to be delayed by between two to three months. It is thought the Government doesn’t want to make any decisions until it decides which department is going to look after the contract, and certainly not until after the budget in March,” said one source to i. “We’ll be lucky if we have a winner announced by the end of this year.”

National Lottery increased figures in 1H19

Camelot, the current operator of the UK National Lottery, recently reported that ticket sales increased 14% to £3.92 billion and digital sales rose 40% in the first half of 2019.

In the six-month report, Camelot explains that digital sales increased by 40%, prize money rose 13% and retail sales experienced a 5% improvement. Between April 1 and September 29, ticket sales also rose by 13.5% to £3.92 billion.

The EuroMillions game boosted sales during that period. It eventually rolled to a record £170 million before a single UK ticket-holder won in October, The Courier reported. Camelot also increased sales of scratchcards and online instant win games by £164.7 million to £1.6 billion.