Factory worker quits job after winning $12.3M UK lottery jackpot

Apr 30, 2015, 8:02 am (17 comments)

UK National Lottery

A food factory worker and his partner both quit their jobs after the pair won a lottery jackpot worth nearly £8 million (US$12.3 million).

Philip Thomas Dunning, 44, and his partner Gina Meikle were left "in a state of shock" after winning £7,864,529 in Saturday's UK National Lottery draw.

The couple, of Bo'ness, Falkirk, are getting ready for the good times after a pal called them with the news as they were heading to bed.

Sandra, who matched the lucky couple up eleven years ago, knew the numbers that Philip regularly puts on every week.

Now, Philip and Gina, who used to work at Caledonian Produce in Bo'ness, before their cash-fuelled resignation,are looking forward to spending some of their new found wealth on a top-of-the-line house and car.

Philip, who had worked at the food production factory for 15 years, said it was a "fantastic feeling" to leave his job.

He said, "It's still quite a surreal situation at the moment and I still can't take it in.  I'm in a state of shock but I'm sure over time it will become a reality.  It will change our life but won't change our life as people.

Phillip described winning the lottery.  "We were getting ready to go to bed when we received the phone call.  There was no sleep after we received that phone call, we stayed up most of the night.

"The phone call from Sandra was quite short and simple, it was, 'switch on your TV — you've won the lottery'.

"My work colleagues were absolutely ecstatic, they are just as thrilled as we are.  It was a fantastic feeling.

"We've dreamt about it for years.  We obviously weren't expecting the volume to be honest; we would have been quite happy with a lot less.

"The first thing we did was switch on the TV and we saw the numbers staring at us on the screen.

"We've not got any concrete plans but we will buy a new house and a new car.

"We went to work as normal on the Sunday morning at 4am and had the ticket sitting in my wallet throughout the shift.  Every minute I was checking to see if it was still there in case I lost it.

"I went into work on the Monday morning as normal and first thing I did was hand in my resignation, as did my partner."

Philip, who didn't rule out a possible wedding with the money, won the jackpot with numbers 4, 11, 27, 28, 30, and 49, with Bonus Ball number 47.

The Speedway fan, who had previously won £1,000 on a lucky dip, currently drives a 03 plate Vauxhall Astra and said it was the "perfect time" to upgrade.

He said, "We were due a new car soon so that has helped us to achieve that.  We don't exactly know which car we want or which house we'd like to buy, but they're first on our list.

"The house is going to be local because we've got a large circle of family and friends in the Bo'ness area.

"We'll have some sort of celebration but I'm not sure what yet.  I'm not sure if it will be in the house or if we'll go out."

Philip has two step daughters, Ashley, 25 and Kerri, 22, and bought his ticket from the Newtown Post Office in Bo'ness on Saturday afternoon.

Owner of the store, Mohammad Sajid, sold Philip the ticket and was "chuffed" to see his "loyal" customer scoop the big prize.

News story photo(Click to display full-size in gallery)

Thanks to myturn for the tip.

Mirror

Comments

zephbe's avatarzephbe

Congrats to the winners.  Enjoy. Smile

ThatScaryChick's avatarThatScaryChick

Congrats to Philip and Gina! Star

mypiemaster's avatarmypiemaster

Congrats to Gina and Philip. It might be prudent to take a month off before deciding to quit your job, unless of course, your job really really really sucks.

savagegoose's avatarsavagegoose

im not sure what the interest rates in the UK are, but im pretty sure they suck. with 8$mill just interest at%2 is £160k a year, and then taxes... i wouldnt go too nuts on big ticket spending.

oh a short look you can get %1.2%... so a safe 96k a year. pay some taxes, keep the house and car maintained.

Saylorgirl's avatarSaylorgirl

Congratulations to Philip and Gina!  May you enjoy your new found wealth!

music*'s avatarmusic*

Philip & Gina are in shock.  I am afraid that I would be too. They are in a different place now.   A new car and a new home. Reasonable purchases.  Please make it last until your last day.Cheers

IPlayWeekly's avatarIPlayWeekly

Awesome news while I'm at work counting down to 4pm.

shadowlady's avatarshadowlady

Congratulations to the lucky couple. 

 

Hope they do not go nuts with new purchases for a while.

maringoman's avatarmaringoman

Life is too short to continue taking orders from a boss when you have $12.3M. Phillip you're my hero Cheers

rcbbuckeye's avatarrcbbuckeye

Quote: Originally posted by maringoman on Apr 30, 2015

Life is too short to continue taking orders from a boss when you have $12.3M. Phillip you're my hero Cheers

THIS is why I play every. single. draw. Without fail.

Technut's avatarTechnut

Congrats Philip & Gina on your lucky win. (c8

Lynn-Lynn's avatarLynn-Lynn

Congratulations on your big win

myturn's avatarmyturn

Congratulations!  But...........

 

Don't rush into anything, plan for the Long-term. Get independent, professionel financial and legal advice. Many lottery winners get carried away and squandered the opportunity for long-term financial security.

maringoman's avatarmaringoman

Quote: Originally posted by rcbbuckeye on Apr 30, 2015

THIS is why I play every. single. draw. Without fail.

Same here. Good luck

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