Ex-lottery boss bags £800k bonanza

FORMER Camelot chief executive Dame Dianne Thompson has hit the jackpot, scooping £800,000 from her former company four years after she retired.

Dame Dianne, who left the National Lottery operator in 2014 after 14 years in charge, is the lucky recipient of a long-term incentive plan that will keep on paying out until 2022.

The figure is tucked away in accounts for obscure subsidiary Camelot Business Solutions, which have just been made available. The firm provides business services to sister companies and recorded revenues of £21.8million for the year ending March 31, 2018, along with pre-tax profits of £800,000.

In her final two years at Camelot, which sells almost £7billion of lottery tickets each year, Dame Dianne received £2.1million in pay and perks. Since leaving, she has racked up an additional £4million. In notes to the accounts, the firm said: ‘Both short-term and long-term incentive plans follow industry best practice with stretching targets and measurable performance.’

After retiring from Camelot, Dame Dianne bought the George Hotel in Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight. She also sits on the board of clothing retailer Next plc, and was made a Dame in the 2015 New Year’s Honours list.