Camelot Group
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Camelot Head Office in Watford
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| Private | |
| Industry | Lottery |
| Founded | 27 March 1998 |
| Headquarters | Watford, England, UK |
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Area served
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United Kingdom |
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Key people
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Andy Duncan (CEO) |
| Products | National Lottery |
| Revenue |
 £5.5 Billion GBP
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£47.2 Million GBP
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£32.4 Million GBP
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Number of employees
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750 |
| Parent | Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan |
| Website | www |
Camelot Group are the operators of the UK National Lottery. Camelot Group was awarded the National Lottery franchise in May 1994 (though the lottery did not start until November 1994) and was re-awarded the franchise in 2001 and again in 2007. The current franchise period started in 2009 and runs until 2019, with a possible extension of up to five years. The governmental body the National Lottery Commission is responsible for deciding who is awarded the franchise. The way the franchise was awarded to Camelot in 2001 caused some controversy because state owned Royal Mail held a 20% stake in the Camelot Group.
In March 2010, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan from Canada announced that it was buying Camelot for £389m.
Camelot was formed as a consortium to bid for the National Lottery project. The major partners were International Computers Limited (ICL), supplying hardware, software, and systems integration expertise; Racal with responsibility for the communications network; and Cadbury Schweppes bringing experience in consumer marketing and knowledge of the world of corner-shop retailers. De La Rue brought knowledge of secure printing technology, and GTECH Corporation were brought in as the selected supplier of applications software. Staff were seconded from the partner companies, transferring to Camelot Group when the bid was won.
Senior executives such as Tim Holley were enticed to join the project by the promise of large bonuses if the bid was successful. This caused embarrassment later when the incoming Labour government, in particular Chris Smith, the Culture Secretary, publicly criticised Camelot and its executives for excessive greed in the level of salaries and bonus payments.
The Camelot name is reflected in the actual lottery machines used in the National Lottery draw, which are named for characters, places, and objects in Arthurian Legend (Guinevere, Lancelot, Excalibur, Arthur, etc.).
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Wikipedia