Allwyn has announced the next step in its transformation journey with a major upgrade to its website and mobile apps taking place on Saturday 24^th January until the end of Sunday 25^th January.

During this time, The National Lottery website, as well as The National Lottery iOS and Android apps, will be taken offline so that these important updates can take place. This includes migrating the accounts for The National Lottery’s 11.8 million active registered players to a brand-new account management system.

Players will be able to log in and play online until 11pm on Saturday 24^th January and Lotto and Thunderball draws will take place as usual from 8pm that evening. Once the website and app go offline, players will still be able to buy tickets at retailers nationwide.

During the time the website and mobile apps are down, National Lottery retailers may see higher numbers of players coming into their stores to check their retail tickets, as the online ticket checker will also be unavailable. Retailers can make the most of any extra footfall by suggesting a ticket or Scratchcard purchase at the till.

Following the upgrades, National Lottery trading hours will also be extended from the evening of Sunday 25^th January. Retailers will be able to sell draw-based game tickets and pay out prizes until 23.55 each day, giving them an extra 55 minutes of trading time.

Andria Vidler, Allwyn’s CEO said these digital upgrades mark another milestone in their transformation of the Lottery.

“This is just the beginning of an exciting year for Allwyn and The National Lottery, as we work towards our ambitious goal to double weekly returns to Good Causes from £30 million a week at the start of the licence to £60 million by 2034.”

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The slogan, along with the giant gold hand, has not been seen on screens together for more than 26 years. They have been reimagined to reach new audiences to support the nation’s millionaire-making game, Lotto.

As The National Lottery’s flagship game, Lotto has created over 3,500 millionaires since the first draw in November 1994. Allwyn, the operator of The National Lottery, will be using the ad to showcase real people winning and support an optimistic nation that is longing for a bit of hope and ‘what if’ belief moments. The campaign features real Lotto millionaire winners from across the years in cameo roles declaring “We won, and you could too!”.

The winners include Sarah Cockings from Newcastle who won £3,045,705 at age 21. Also featured are Chris and Geraldine Bradley from South Wales who were part of a family syndicate with grandfather, Bob, and father, Barry, and shared a £3,570,063 win in 2006. The campaign also sees an appearance from Gary MacDonald, who drove a delivery van round Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex before he scooped the £5,208,504 jackpot in April this year and took early retirement.

The campaign supports a study of more than 2,500 people by The National Lottery that Britons would like more hope in their lives and that we are, at heart, a nation of believers.  They have found that 98% of people say that as a nation we could all do with a bit of hope right now. A further 89% of Brits have their fingers crossed for something good to happen, with 41% hoping to win the Lotto.

Underlining how we are a nation of optimists, the majority of public (53%) consider themselves to be lucky, with 72% believing that being positive or hopeful can change the outcome of events. While 40% of the nation don’t believe they are lucky, 61% of people do feel most optimistic when they have something to look forward to.

Steve Parkinson, Brand & Marketing Director at Allwyn UK, operator of The National Lottery said: “The original tagline ‘It Could Be You’ has always struck a chord with our players and it has never left us. We know our players still use the phrase when they buy tickets and enter the draw and there is a great amount of nostalgia attached to it.

‘We are at heart a nation of optimists who want to imagine what might be possible’

“But there’s also a new generation of players that want those ‘what if’ magic moments that Lotto provides. People win Lotto week in, week out, and we all have a chance if we buy a ticket. We wanted to embrace that and involve some of the real winners from across the years to demonstrate that anyone can win.”

The ‘It Could Be You’ advertisement was used to launch the nation’s very first National Lottery game and the tagline became instantly recognisable. It was coupled with a giant pointing hand descending dramatically from the sky indicating that anyone could win.

“’It Could Be You’ confidently taps into The National Lottery’s history of changing lives, but it also comes at a moment where the British public have been telling us they’d love a bit of more hope in their life. We are at heart a nation of optimists who want to imagine what might be possible,” added Steve.

“’It Could Be You’ has always sparked people’s imaginations and underpinned the magic of winning. Since it started, Lotto has created over 3,500 millionaires and continues to offer huge jackpot prizes in every draw. We all hope and dream that it could be us one day and this campaign aims to get the nation talking about what they would do if it was them next!”

The advert was directed by celebrated commercial director Dave Meyers, who has also shot music videos for the likes of Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Harry Styles, Kendrick Lemar, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa and Megan Thee Stallion.

The advert was broadcast on TV first on Monday 1^st September with a peak Coronation Street slot. There is a new refreshed look and feel to the Lotto game. September’s Lotto Must Be Won event of a £15m jackpot on Saturday 13^th September is being supported by the new branding and is on the point of sale that is heading to retail stores from 1^st September.

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The National Lottery will undergo its biggest technology upgrade since 1994, transforming core gaming and retail systems. This will involve launching new terminal software and moving systems to new platforms, as well as a number of other crucial back-end tech upgrades.

The upgrades also include the delivery of 30+ new systems and complex data migrations, including the transfer of tens of thousands of retailer records and millions of transactions.

The technology updates will take place from 2^nd to 4^th August, taking National Lottery services offline from 11pm on Saturday until late Monday morning. Following Saturday night’s Lotto and Thunderball draws, The National Lottery website/app and retail lottery terminals will shut down at 11pm, preventing players from logging into their online accounts, buying draw tickets or claiming prizes – in-store or online – until Monday.

Over the next 10 days, there are several activities to deliver before gaining final approval for this date. This includes final testing and helping retailers to understand how to use new National Lottery systems.

Players will still be able to check results until systems go offline on Saturday and will still be able to buy Scratchcards in shops for the duration. They’ll also be able to see the latest National Lottery draws and view the full results for the Saturday draws on The National Lottery’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/thenationallottery

STEPS FOR RETAILERS

Once services come back online on Monday, around 8,000 National Lottery retailers will switch over to new state-of-the-art lottery Wave terminals – which have already arrived in their stores. These will allow them to process player transactions more quickly and provide them with more functionality. The remainder of National Lottery retailers will be using the new software that went live over the weekend on their existing terminal and will receive their own new Wave terminal in the coming months.

There are a number of actions that retailers should proactively take to streamline and speed up the process, including:

Retailers should keep their terminal plugged in and powered on all weekend, to allow critical software updates to take place

All stores should activate sufficient Scratchcard stock to keep dispensers full until Monday

Retailers can sign onto their terminal before 10am on Sunday morning to access their weekly invoice, but after they’ve done that, they should put the terminal cover (found in the support pack which will be sent to them) in place to prevent anyone from accessing the terminal

On Monday, the way that all retailers sign-on to their terminal will change, so they should make sure they have their new sign-on details to hand (again, these can be found in their support pack)

Allwyn is providing retailers with customer-facing point of sale materials to keep players informed about the upgrade and distributing comprehensive support packs to the 43,500-strong estate.

FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS

It’s expected that a small proportion of legacy in-store terminals may experience delays coming back up on Monday if certain upgrade processes were interrupted for various reasons. Most retailers who follow the guidance in their support pack will experience a smooth return to service. To assist those who might need additional support, Allwyn has specialist teams standing by to get them back up and running as quickly as possible.

Allwyn’s Director of Operations, Jenny Blogg, said: “These critical tech upgrades follow on from our continuous progress in modernising The National Lottery, which hasn’t had a major refresh since 2009. This includes introducing a fresh new look in our 43,500 retail partners with new stands, dispensers and signage, as well as rolling out state-of-the-art lottery terminals and a new in-store network provided by Vodafone.

“We’re very grateful for our retail partners’ continued support through these latest upgrades. We’ve been working hard to make sure retailers can get back up and running as quickly as possible after the weekend, so it’s really important that they follow the instructions in their support pack.

“While these significant updates will mean short-term disruption for players and our retail partners, they will allow us to deliver on our promise to bring new, exciting games to The National Lottery; a better player experience; and our commitment to double returns to Good Causes from £30m to £60m every week by the end of the 10-year licence.”

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Allwyn’s new range of Christmas Scratchcards, which is bespoke for 2024, features two firsts for The National Lottery – a foldable £2 Christmas card with top prizes of £50,000, and a £1 gift tag Scratchcard with top prizes of £10,000.

With National Lottery Scratchcards exclusively sold in retail, Allwyn’s huge new festive Scratchcard TV advertising campaign – which sees a family at Christmas playing ‘Musical Scratchcards’ around the dinner table – is solely aimed at driving players into stores. Retailers can also tap into the campaign by suggesting a Scratchcard to customers as the perfect fun addition to festive social games and gatherings, or as a last-minute Secret Santa or Christmas gift. 

Two special event draws will spread even more National Lottery festive cheer in stores in December, starting with a £15 million Lotto ‘Must Be Won’ draw on Christmas Day – which will be supported with UK-wide advertising from 19^th December. This will be followed by the EuroMillions 10 UK Millionaires special event draw on New Year’s Eve. This will guarantee 2025 starts with a bang for the 10 guaranteed lucky UK millionaires and will be supported with advertising from 26^th December.

National Lottery retailers will be receiving special POS for both draws and should site this kit in prime positions to drive talkability and sales.

Earlier this year, Allwyn became a more advanced member of National Council on Problem Gambling’s (NCPG) 2024 Gift Responsibly Campaign. Founded in the early 2000s, the Gift Responsibly Campaign works to raise public awareness about the risks of youth gambling. Through partnerships with lotteries and other organisations, it educates communities about the risks of buying lottery tickets for children. 

This enhanced partnership follows on from the recent introduction by Allwyn of a pioneering 10-Scratchcard limit per purchase, to help minimise any likelihood of excessive play.

Allwyn’s Director of Commercial Partnerships and Retail Sales, Alison Acquaye-Acford said: “With retail being the only place customers can buy Scratchcards, National Lottery retailers will already be directly benefiting from our huge new festive advertising campaign – which shows the fun that can be had with Scratchcards at Christmas time.

“Our special EuroMillions and Lotto draws will help further drive sales for retailers, and we suggest retailers talk to their customers about the draws to get them excited and buying tickets. This festive extravaganza will ultimately help to boost retailers’ bottom lines while at the same time helping to raise around £30 million every week for National Lottery Good Causes.”

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The new ‘Share the Win’ initiative is putting a range of prizes up for grabs for National Lottery retailers who sell high tier (£50,000 or more) winning draw-based games tickets – such as EuroMillions, Lotto, and Thunderball – or National Lottery Scratchcards.

The scheme is open to all retailers where the winning ticketholder is happy to share details of their win.

The amount awarded to the National Lottery retailer will be linked to the size of the player’s win and celebrated with new in-store activation kit – including a special ‘Big Winner Made Here’ poster and wall plaque, and for gold tier winners, a gold ‘Millionaire Made Here’ Playstation.

There are three tiers of prizes available to retailers through the new initiative:

• Gold tier – wins of more than £1m will net lucky retailers the top prize of £10,000 
• Silver tier – wins between £251,000 and £1m will be worth £5,000 to shop owners 
• Bronze tier – wins between £50,000 and £250,000 will see retailers pocket £2,000 

The first winner to net a fantastic ‘Share the Win’ prize has been unveiled as Drummond Miller, owner of Keystore in Dalkeith, Scotland, who scooped the £5,000 silver tier prize for selling a winning National Lottery Thunderball ticket worth £500,000 to Raymond Young.

Allwyn’s Interim Retail Director, James Dunbar said: ‘Huge congratulations to Drummond for becoming our first ever ‘Share the Win’ winner! With this initiative, we are multiplying the joy of winning on The National Lottery by taking a player’s magnificent win and then rewarding the retailer who sold them their winning ticket.

“It adds a whole new dimension to selling National Lottery tickets for our retail partners, because simply selling a single lucky ticket could land them an incredible prize themselves. They’ll be able to then share in the amazing feeling of winning on The National Lottery!

“And this initiative not only rewards retailers for helping us to make huge National Lottery winners, but also for helping us to raise around £30 million each and every week for National Lottery-funded projects.”

National Lottery retailers can head to the National Lottery Retailer Hub – https://tnlpartners.co.uk – to ensure they’re opted in to receive email communications, so they don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity.

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