National Lottery: Hundreds of post offices to stop selling tickets and scratchcards
New National Lottery operator Allwyn took over operating the video games on 1 February
A fifth of post offices within the UK will stop selling lottery tickets and scratchcards, its operator has mentioned.
Last yr, the Post Office ended its group contract with the National Lottery, giving branches a selection on whether or not to inventory the merchandise.
Allwyn, which took over operating the lottery days in the past, mentioned causes ranged from spiritual beliefs to low gross sales.
But one postmaster mentioned he would have “lost a significant amount of money” if he continued to promote them.
The National Federation of SubPostmasters (NFSP) mentioned, for a lot of, the difficulty is scratchcards.
“We would still be selling [lottery tickets] if it wasn’t for the scratchcards,” mentioned Calum Greenhow, who runs a post workplace in Scotland along with his spouse, and is the chief government of the NFSP.
Under the earlier group contract, the Post Office would cowl the fee of the playing cards, however now every particular person department should pay for them themselves.
Since they refresh each six weeks or so, Mr Greenhow mentioned they threat dropping cash on unsold inventory.
And, underneath Gambling Commission guidelines, retailers aren’t allowed to promote lottery tickets with out additionally stocking scratchcards.
New lottery operator Allwyn instructed the PA information company that 900 of the 5,800 branches that had beforehand stocked National Lottery merchandise haven’t signed up to proceed.
It says greater than 600 had chosen not to, whereas up to 200 have been unable to as a result of of county court docket judgements.
The Post Office mentioned it ended the group contract final yr on the request of postmasters who wished to obtain full fee from gross sales – beforehand the Post Office took round 1% from every transaction.
It says it has spent the previous yr “supporting postmasters to transition to the new lottery provider”.
Allwyn’s new CEO, Andria Vidler, mentioned a “vast majority” had signed up to the brand new licence, and that she believes lottery merchandise entice folks to the excessive avenue.
“Retailers see this as a real encouragement to get people out”, she mentioned.
One of the world’s largest lotteries, the National Lottery has raised greater than £48bn for good causes throughout the UK.
