Have you ever wondered who owns the UK lottery? With so much money going into such a business it’s hard to imagine that the owners are not extraordinarily rich. The truth is that the UK lottery is own be a variety of stockholders, meaning that the greater profits are divided between several different members, usually the ones who helped fund the company.
The UK lottery is currently in control by a company called Camelot. They oversee all of the different promotions and payouts and insure that everything is running smoothly. Camelot’s reign started back in 2001 when they were awarded the bid for the franchise. This bid takes place every eight years, and the UK lottery ownership is given to the company chosen by The National Lottery Commission.
The National Lottery Commission is however not responsible for act of Camelot. It also does not distribute any of the winnings. It was set up to ensure that all players get equally treated. It is not a government-operated company, and has a staff of just 50 people. The head office is located in Watford, even though most staff are from London itself.
To help with the changing of the license to a new owner, the National Lottery Commission is made up of five directors: Licensing, Resources, Compliance, the Project Team, and Performance and Communications. The members are appointed by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. They also appoint the Chief Executive and make decisions about the lottery and licenses.
The duty of National Lottery Commission is to look after complaints, which were not adequately looked after by Camelot, or whichever company operates UK lottery. They guarantee that no underage person applies for the game and that people are not into playing the game very excessively. The Commission checks and regulates most of the happenings by Camelot, however they don’t get involved much into the managing and running of the game. The commission however looks to it that the money is allocated properly, and in the correct manner.
Fund collected from the game is divided among the prize money and the several noble causes. Some part of the funds directly goes to the British government, the ticket sellers, the suppliers of lottery tickets, and for Camelot’s cost and profit. Parliament has set that, at least 28p of every pound will go for the noble cause. There are some people who think this to be a stealth tax, but in fact it actually helps the Big Lottery Fund. Some part of the fund collected by Dream Number lottery is to help the Olympics and Paralympics, to be held in 2012.
According to the rules set down by the National Lottery Commission, players must be at least 16 years of age to play. Camelot participates in both scratch cards and number matching games, but the Lotto is recognized as the most popular. Players trying the pick-the-number games can usually play on Wednesdays or Saturdays. There is also the Daily Play, which runs every day of the week except Sundays. For those seeking large jackpots the EuroMillion is best, which has a rolling jackpot that encompasses all of Europe.
