A conversation with Allwyn UK CEO Andria Vidler about the tremendous scale of the UK Lottery Transformation
Financial Times Interview
Up until 2023, Andria Vidler’s experience with the National Lottery was largely limited to buying tickets for family members’ Christmas stockings or leaving gifts for colleagues. But for the past three years, as chief executive of lottery operator Allwyn UK, she has led the nationwide prize draw through a daunting set of technological, regulatory and commercial challenges as it undergoes a first change of operator since it launched in 1994.
Vidler has faced criticism over her lack of experience in the lottery sector, but says she is well equipped to run the UK institution because she gets “a kick out of . . . rejuvenating slightly tired businesses”. She hopes to create a “shift in the mindset” at an organisation she believes has too long regarded itself as a monopoly, but must now fight for relevance against competitors such as “Million Pound House Draw” operator Omaze.
She must tackle flagging sales growth and make good on the ambitious promises Allwyn made to revitalise the National Lottery with new games and attract younger users. The company has also pledged to double the amount generated for “good causes” each week to £60mn by 2034. The promises, made before Vidler took over, were instrumental in Allwyn securing one of the UK’s largest government procurement deals. The multinational lottery operator, whose ultimate beneficial owner is Czech billionaire Karel Komárek, was awarded the 10-year contract to operate the National Lottery in a hotly contested process in March 2022.
Yet the most ambitious plans had to wait until the completion of a two-year technology overhaul, including swapping out more than 41,000 physical terminals in locations from small newsagents to big retailers, which had not been changed since 2009.
“I’ve done major transformations before . . . but the scale of this transformation was unbelievable,” says Vidler. “Everyone’s got their own way of working, so the complexity of rolling out new terminals everywhere is really difficult.” The reboot is finally complete. “It has felt like the plumbing and the foundations,” says Vidler, now relieved to focus on bigger changes. These include an attempt to shift the demographics of average National Lottery players, who tend to be affluent men in their fifties, according to the Gambling Commission. “
If I can attract my daughters [in their twenties] to want to play more regularly, I will feel very, very happy.” That includes highlighting the Lottery’s role as a major charitable funder: “When I listen to my daughters and their friends talk, companies that are more sustainable and companies that think about the impact they’re having on society are seen as more valuable.”
Vidler wants updated National Lottery store screens to display details of grants to local organisations, from cancer support groups to sports teams. “If you don’t win, it’s good to know that your money has gone somewhere,” she says, although she is clear prizes remain the real attraction. “I wouldn’t say that they are playing completely benevolently.”
Recent months have seen the launch of Deal or No Deal scratch cards and “instant lotteries” based on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here! — tie-ins that Vidler, who was previously CEO at production company Tag after holding executive positions at EMI and Bauer Media, says “could have been done years ago”.
She says the task of keeping the lottery fresh and culturally relevant was neglected before Allwyn’s takeover: “When was the last time you heard anything new from the National Lottery?” Still, she is careful to stress that she does not want to “knock” former operator Camelot, arguing its challenges stemmed from the structure of its Gambling Commission licence, which has since been modified. Heavy oversight of strategic decisions caused delays:
“For every new game they wanted, I think it was taking them about two years . . . [By then] your market has moved on from the original concept.”
Allwyn was founded when Komárek’s investment group KKCG bought the near-bankrupt Czech lottery operator Sazka in 2011; it was given its current name in 2021. It is now the world’s second-largest listed gambling group, behind only Flutter, which owns FanDuel and Paddy Power. The company — the largest division in Komárek’s sprawling empire — is structured around a central executive team led by Robert Chvátal as well as a UK team, headed by Vidler, that manages the National Lottery.
The National Lottery is a flagship asset for Allwyn. It made up about 46 per cent of the group’s almost €9bn total revenues in 2025, although delivered just €34mn, or 2 per cent, of the group’s adjusted operating profit — largely due to tax obligations and charitable contributions mandated by the licence. The acquisition has not been without drama. After Allwyn was awarded the contract in 2022, it was delayed by a legal challenge from longtime operator and rival bidder Camelot against the Gambling Commission. It was dropped that September, but Allwyn bought Camelot for £100mn in 2023 in a deal intended to ease the handover and end legal wrangling. After the takeover, the FT reported mounting tensions between longstanding Camelot management and Allwyn executives. But Vidler, appointed shortly after the acquisition, says by the time of the formal handover in 2024 “it really felt like one team”. Vidler says she relishes answering to just one investor.
She sees the notoriously competitive and media-shy Komárek roughly six times every year, and insists their interactions are “a shareholder relationship, not a boss relationship”. While the National Lottery is legally classified as gambling, Vidler bristles at comparisons to betting, describing her products “as broader entertainment”.
There is a waiting period between ticket purchases and draws, and Allwyn has “introduced so many protection measures” that customers now complain about limits on scratch cards, she says. “Our games are not designed to create any adrenaline rush.” Vidler insists she can meet targets to increase engagement while avoiding the temptation to introduce more addictive features.
“Currently about two-thirds of the adult population play a minimum of once per year,” she says. “If they can play twice — if they can buy a ticket for Christmas, as well as for their wife on their birthday — that is not creating any harm whatsoever, and I can grow this business very successfully.”
But she will have to accomplish this in what is arguably the most crowded competitive landscape facing the National Lottery since its inception. A 2025 UK government report found revenues in the prize draw sector, which includes companies such as Omaze, were continuing to grow rapidly after hitting an estimated £1.3bn in 2023, while the National Lottery’s growth had stalled. Advertising for Omaze’s multimillion-pound houses, in particular, has “really penetrated” the younger audience — one of Vidler’s main target markets — warns non-profit consultant Joe Saxton.
Vidler seems untroubled by the competition, although Allwyn has lobbied for companies such as Omaze, which do not face the same restrictions as lotteries, to be regulated by the Gambling Commission. “Regulation being fair and even would be helpful,” she says, although she insists that the more challenging lottery landscape has its own benefits. “I quite like competition, because I think it keeps everyone on their toes.”
Day in the life of Andria Vidler 6.00am: I wake early, but never quite early enough for regular exercise. Over a coffee — a black Americano with an extra shot — I scan the headlines and my messages. 7.30am: Most days I’m travelling between London and Watford. I try to protect this time. It’s a chance to think, review briefing papers, prep for meetings and catch up with colleagues on the phone. 9.00am: The morning moves fast. Back-to-back meetings range from executive operating board discussions to conversations with external stakeholders, but I always try to leave space to walk the office as much as possible. This also helps get my steps in. 12.30pm: Lunch is usually informal and working over a soup or salad. If I’m in the office, I like to eat with my team and listen to what’s really going on. 2.00pm: Afternoons tend to be externally focused: partners, advisers, government or industry discussions. 6.30pm: Two or three evenings a week are spent at events connected to the National Lottery or the wider media and entertainment industry. On quieter nights, I’ll leave at a sensible time, spend the evening with family and friends. And if I can, I will go swimming.
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