Ten retailers from throughout the UK were awarded £1000, while a top prize of £10,000 was awarded to one retailer.

Elaine and Michael McCosh from SPAR Ballymena were amongst the 10 retailers awarded £1000 for achieving high scores within Allwyn’s latest Site, Stock, Sell quarterly prize daw.

Acknowledged for consistently delivering excellent National Lottery instore standards, Elaine and Michael McCosh were the only retailers in Northern Ireland to receive the £1000 award in this round.

The Site, Stock, Sell initiative evaluates key National Lottery POS features – including Playstations, Scratchcard dispensers and signage – with retailers uploading images through the National Lottery Retailer Hub each month to receive a score out of 10 and automatic entry into the quarterly draw.

The top prize of £10,000 was awarded to Ram Sundavadra who runs a SPAR in Durham, who said he couldn’t believe he and his wife Raju had won.

“The National Lottery is an important part of the service I provide as a convenience store, and the Retailer Hub rewards programme is a real incentive to keep our standards high. My only question now is whether I’m still allowed to enter again!”

Karl Southworth, Head of Field Sales at Allwyn said: “In answer to Ram’s question, yes of course he can enter again. I know Ram and Raju are pillars of their local community and it’s fantastic to see retail partners like them rewarded because they are the backbone of The National Lottery.

“From small family run shops to busy convenience stores, they are the face of the brand in villages and towns across the UK and play a crucial role in making the National Lottery accessible and welcoming to millions of players. Their commitment to strong instore standards directly supports the success of The National Lottery, and in turn helps us raise over £32 million each week for Good Causes.”

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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.”

The post Weekend digital upgrade to Lottery won’t affect retailers but may increase footfall first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

The rollout immediately follows the successful completion of its largest-ever technical upgrade since the inception of The National Lottery in 1994.

The Wave terminals contain state-of-the-art technology that benefits both retailers and National Lottery players. The sleek machines feature a high-speed processor that ensures faster transactions, a bigger and tilt-adjustable LCD screen, wireless 1D barcode and 2D code scanners, and a play slip reader that can be fed both horizontally and vertically.

They also provide retailers with more functionality, including enhanced reporting features and the ability to change numbers on National Lottery Fast Pay cards.

In the first half of 2025, around 8,000 retailers received their new Wave terminal – the majority of which were retailers which previously had Compact Lottery Terminals (CLTs). This was before The National Lottery technical upgrade that took place from 2^nd to 4^th August, as the CLTs worked on a different operating system from the one being installed across the entire UK network.

The early-August tech upgrades included the delivery of more than 30 new technology systems, a completely rebuilt back-end gaming platform, a new in-store network provided by Vodafone, and the migration of tens of thousands of retailer records and millions of transactions from legacy systems dating back to 2009.

With the conclusion of the largest and most complex lottery systems updates in history, a complete, national rollout of Wave terminals commenced on 11^th August to the remainder of the legacy Altura terminal estate. While these machines work with the upgraded software, Allwyn always planned to replace Alturas with Wave machines over the coming months, as most of the legacy terminals date back to 2009.

By the end of August, nearly 4,000 retailers will have their Altura replaced with a Wave terminal. From September, Allwyn is aiming to install thousands of Wave machines a week at National Lottery retailers in every postcode district of the UK.

Allwyn’s Director of Operations, Jenny Blogg said: “This is another massive undertaking from Allwyn as we deliver generational change to The National Lottery.

“We have invested more than £350 million in a comprehensive plan to transform The National Lottery, substantially improving its operations and technology. These will support exciting plans we have for new games, a better player experience, and a commitment to double returns to Good Causes from £30m to £60m every week by the end of our 10-year licence.

“Over the coming months, our team will be delivering and installing thousands of Wave machines every week. We understand the importance of this new technology in enhancing the in-store experience for both retailers and their customers. We are thrilled at the highly encouraging feedback we have received for the new Wave machines.”

National Lottery retailers from across the UK that have had their Alturas replaced with Wave machines have spoken positively about the new technology and the difference it is making to their businesses and customers.

Karen McDonnell, of Centra in Bangor said: “The new Wave terminal looks great, and I’m pleased with the fact that it seems to be much faster and quicker to respond. The new layout makes the Lucky Dip ticket transactions even quicker, and I really like the wireless scanner.”

Stephen Harrison of Nisa in Belfast added: “Having the new terminal in store has been amazing. It is so much more responsive and easier to use, which has been especially important to us as we recently had some PR around a millionaire made in store, so our store has been much busier selling those lucky tickets!”

Mandy Henry of Vivo in Belfast said: “I’m enjoying how our new Lottery terminal is high-speed and simple to use. I like the fact that you can see the transaction history, especially when scanning multiple winning Scratchcards. The design is also much more slimline and easier to keep clean.”

The post Allwyn begins scale rollout of over 30,000 new state-of the-art Wave Lottery terminals first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

Saturday 2^nd August:

• National Lottery games and products can be sold as normal until 23:00
• Action: Activate sufficient Scratchcard stock to keep your dispenser full until Monday
• Action: Keep your terminal plugged in and powered on until Monday

Sunday 3^rd August:

• Continue selling activated Scratchcards
• Action: Sign-on to your terminal and access your weekly invoice before 10:00am
• After 10:00am, do not sign-on to your terminal or access training mode. Stick the terminal cover (found in your support pack) in place to prevent anyone from accessing the terminal but keep it powered on until Monday.

Monday 4^th August:

• Sign-on will not be available first thing so try and sign-on to your terminal from late-morning onwards
• Action: Use your new terminal sign-on details:
• Managers: Enter your 6-digit Retailer ID followed by 00
• Staff: Enter your 6-digit Retailer ID followed by 01
• One-time temporary passcode: 00000

More details can be found in Jackpot Lite magazine, which can be found in the News Section of the Retailer Hub.

The post Technical Switchover – everything you need to know first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

Ahead of this, some essential preparation advice has been issued for retailers, to help them prepare their stores in time as new terminal software will go live to support National Lottery core gaming and retail technology systems moves to new platforms.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Technical Switchover over will start at 11pm on Saturday 2^nd August and National Lottery terminals will be down for approximately 36 hours to enable the new systems to go live. Stores will still be able to sell activated Scratchcards during this time.

Jackpot Lite magazine has all the information you need and will arrive in your store shortly if it hasn’t already. Please read it as soon as possible to get ready.

Technical Switchover Support Pack will arrive in stores from Tuesday 29^th July and will contain:

• Player-facing POS so you can let your customers know that some National Lottery services will be unavailable this weekend
• A flyer for store colleagues with need-to-know information
• A terminal cover to be used on Sunday 3^rd August
• Plus, a new Players’ Guide and updates for your Retailer Organiser

Open the pack on arrival and follow the instructions to ensure your store is prepared for Technical Switchover.

If your store has a new Wave terminal, NEW ticket rolls have been sent to you. If you haven’t done so already, please place it in your Wave terminal printer immediately.

As a reminder, there are three important things you need to do on the weekend of Technical Switchover:

• Terminals must be kept plugged in and powered on from Saturday 2^nd to Monday 4^th August
• You need to use new terminal sign-on details from Monday 4th August; these details can be found in the special edition Jackpot Lite magazine
• Activate sufficient Scratchcard stock to keep dispensers full until Monday

The post National Lottery technical switchover – retailer preparations for weekend ahead first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.