Current National Lottery operator claims they were duped in scoring system
By Kate Northrop
Camelot Group, who currently holds the license to operate the UK National Lottery, has announced that it is filing suit against the Gambling Commission for allegedly botching the final scoring during the selection process for the Lottery's next license holder.
This week, Camelot will launch a legal battle against the UK Gambling Commission following claims that it broke the law in choosing the next operator of the National Lottery.
On March 15, the Commission announced their intentions to drop Camelot as the operator after holding the license for 28 years. Czech company Allwyn Entertainment was announced as the preferred bidder set to take over operations in 2024.
The day of the announcement, Camelot CEO Nigel Railton stated that he was "incredibly disappointed" by the decision and that they were in the midst of "carefully reviewing the Gambling Commission's evaluation" before deciding on the next steps.
Now, the company is asserting a claim that the Commission changed the rules of the selection process designed to measure the applicants after Camelot emerged as the bidder with the highest score.
The detail in question has to do with a 15 pence "risk factor" discount applied to financial projections put forward by bidders. According to The Telegraph, Camelot is expected to claim that a discount was initially applied by the regulator but later changed to zero in the final decision.
The change is relevant to Camelot's case because Allwyn's financial projections touted raising £38 billion (US$49.7 billion) for charitable good causes, billions higher than what Camelot proposed.
Allwyn was likely just as surprised by the change as Camelot was, since they had filed their own suit against the Commission shortly before they were announced as the new recipient of the license on March 15.
Should Camelot continue to pursue a legal battle, it would prevent Allwyn from signing the contract to take over as the National Lottery's new operator.
Wow, that's like working for a company for 28 years & being let- go with no severance pay.
That's got to hurt!
It's not really like that because the lottery commission is accountable to the public and as such they are obligated to choose the company that presents the most profitable business plan. This is more like a 5-term senator getting voted out of office.
The most amusing thing in the article is that the competitor Allwyn was going to sue too. The lottery commission ought to start planning how to move most of the operation in-house so they can get away from these litigious bvtt-hurt companies.
Such sore losers.
More like " No Honor Among Thieves"..!!