Happy Retirement!

By Kate Northrop

MONTROSE, U.K. — A member of an 11-person lottery group won a share of a £1 million (US$ 1,263,025) EuroMillions prize the day he retired.

A lottery win came at the right time for one Scottish lottery player who found out he was splitting a £1 million EuroMillions prize with his lottery pool on the same day he retired.

Robert Pert, of Montrose in Angus, Scotland, is part of a lottery syndicate made up of 11 employees at GPG Montrose Garage, including mechanics, technicians, and office staff.

"This win couldn't have come at a better time — on the day of my retirement," the 66-year-old lottery winner said. "Definitely a reason for a very big and very special celebration."

The group organizer, Arthur Forsyth, 57, and his wife, Lesley, 56, both woke up at 4am on the day they discovered the win. What better time to check a lottery ticket?

They found that they had won £2.80 and went back to sleep, but Lesley was suddenly woken up three hours later by her very ecstatic husband.

"He just started shouting, 'Oh my goodness, oh my goodness,'" Lesley recalled. "I wondered what on earth had happened. He said, 'The garage, our syndicate, we have won £1 million.'"

It was a prize from the EuroMillions UK Millionaire Maker game, a raffle that gives UK players of EuroMillions a chance to win an additional prize of £1 million every EuroMillions drawing.

Lesley's mind immediately jumped to other possibilities — perhaps the win Arthur was seeing was false hope.

"I said, 'No, this can't be true, it must be a scam,' and he just kept saying, 'No Lesley, it isn't. I am on the official National Lottery page and this really is true,'" Lesley continued.

Instead of following through with the company's planned day off, the garage employees thought a celebration at a restaurant was in order to commemorate the lottery win.

"I think the news is still sinking in," Lesley added. "You hear of people winning all the time, but you just never ever think it will happen to you — a garage business in Montrose."

The lottery group includes the Forsyths' daughter, Laura, 31, who is the director at the company. Then there is technician Allan Stevenson, 59, of Laurencekirk, and office team member Laura Guthrie, 35, of Brechin.

Other syndicate members are also Montrose residents themselves — such as office manager Cheryl Milne, 28, technician Martin Guthrie, 30, and workshop manager Raymond Nicoll, 47.

Every lottery winner has their own plans for their share of the prize, from garden renovations to home improvements to cars and vacations.

While Pert is leaving the team at GPG Montrose Garage, the rest of the group plans to continue working at the business and, of course, running the syndicate.