Rothschild to help pick next Lotto operator

THE Gambling Commission has hired investment bankers from Rothschild to pick the next operator of the National Lottery.

Camelot, which has been owned by a Canadian pension fund since 2010, has run the National Lottery since its launch in 1994.

It is likely to face stiff competition for the right to hold on to the monopoly, which expires in 2023.

Former Daily Express and Channel 5 owner Richard Desmond has already expressed interest, calling for the lottery to be returned to British hands. During previous tenders Camelot has beaten the likes of Sir Richard Branson and Indian lottery and diamond conglomerate Sugal & Damani.

Rothschild is joined by accountancy firms EY and Deloitte as well as law firm Hogan Lovells. The Gambling Commission said the National Lottery monopoly should remain in place rather than be broken up and shared among multiple operators – an idea that had previously been floated.

The National Lottery was last put out to tender in 2009. Camelot was handed a 10-year mandate that was later extended to 2023. Interested parties will be invited to join a tender process that is scheduled to formally start next year.

Camelot boss Nigel Railton took over in November 2017, admitting that the National Lottery had “lost relevance”.

He implemented a string of changes that included returning the main draw to live television. In June Mr Railton said that draw-based games such as Lotto were now “back in good health”.

Last August, Camelot was fined £1.2m by the Gambling Commission for a series of failings that included incorrectly issuing “non-winning” messages to players.