National Lottery to suffer 36-hour outage in rush to deliver botched tech update
The National Lottery will be plunged into a 36-hour blackout this summer as its new owner rushes to deliver a botched tech upgrade.
Allwyn, which is controlled by Czech billionaire Karel Komarek, has warned retailers their National Lottery terminals will stop working for around 36 hours while systems are updated.
In a statement to shop owners this week, Andria Vidler, the chief executive of Allwyn UK, said: 'Technical switchover will happen over one weekend this summer, and to enable the new systems to go live, National Lottery terminals will be inactive for approximately 36 hours.'
Ms Vidler did not provide a date for the shutdown, but asked retailers for their 'help and diligence to ensure a seamless transition'.
It is understood that the upgrade will begin at about 11pm on a Saturday night to reduce disruption and loss of earnings. The National Lottery does not trade overnight and no draw-based games take place on a Sunday.
Allwyn has pledged to overhaul the National Lottery's estate of 43,500 terminals at a cost of £350m. The update is critical to the company's promise to double the lottery's contribution to good causes.
However, the IT upgrade has been plagued by difficulties and delays. Bosses are now racing to launch the new system amid pressure from the Gambling Commission.
The complex update was supposed to be in place when Allwyn took over the running of the National Lottery from Camelot in February last year. However, this was delayed after the existing provider, International Games Technology (IGT), challenged the move in the High Court.
The rollout has also been delayed by a separate legal challenge mounted by Richard Desmond, who is suing the Gambling Commission after missing out on the 10-year licence. He has argued the bidding process was unfair and is seeking £200m in damages.
The delays have fuelled concerns that Allwyn will fall short of its ambitious pledge to funnel more money to good causes.
The operator originally promised to increase its charitable donations from £17.9bn to £38bn over the course of the licence – equivalent to about £3.8bn a year. But it has now watered down these targets by pledging to double returns by the end of its licence, from £30m to £60m a week – or less than £3.2bn a year.
The Telegraph revealed earlier this year that the National Lottery is already facing a £2bn shortfall toward its charitable donation target in its maiden year.
This summer's outage, first reported by Better Retailing magazine, is also likely to spark concerns among shopkeepers who make commission by selling lottery tickets.
Andrew Goodacre, the chief executive of the British Independent Retailers Association, said: 'My opinion is that anything that disrupts the normal running of a shop is not welcome.
'We also have to hope that the proposed works go to plan and that any switch is restricted to 36 hours – I fear this may overrun. I would also like to think that the retailers would receive some form of compensation for lost business or inconvenience.'
A spokesman for Allwyn said: 'Allwyn is investing over £350m into improving the operations and technology of The National Lottery.
'This change is critical – it will give us the springboard from which we can continue to improve the player and retailer experience and enable us to deliver on our ambitious plans to double returns to good causes from £30m to £60m a week by the end of the licence.'
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