NATIONAL Lottery sales grew 6.9% last year, to reach an all-time high of £6,977.9m according to operator Camelot. Independent stores account for 83% of all lottery sales and last year saw the company added a further 8,000 stores to its UK network, bringing the total up to 36,700.
In-store sales grew by over 5% to £5,791.9m in 2012/13. Camelot said that was down to “ongoing investment in new in-store equipment and tailored training for retailers to help them make the most of selling National Lottery products.” The company’s Rewards+ and Site+Stock+Sell initiatives “helped its retail partners to deliver even better in-store standards and add even greater value to their businesses”, the firm said.
National Lottery sales have now raised £30bn for the Good Causes fund since the lottery was launched in 1994. Group CEO Dianne Thompson said: “More than 400,000 individual lottery grants have now been made throughout the UK – the equivalent of 128 awards for every UK postcode district. That’s a measure of the massive, life-changing good that The National Lottery has done – and continues to do – for the UK.”
