Northern Shell, the investment company owned by media tycoon Richard Desmond, has been ordered to pay more than £40m after losing a legal battle with the Gambling Commission.
The dispute centred on the awarding of the fourth National Lottery licence, which Allwyn secured in March 2022 after seeing off competition from The New Lottery Company, Italy’s Sisal, and incumbent Camelot.
The New Lottery Company and Northern Shell jointly filed a legal challenge, claiming the regulator wrongly awarded the licence to Allwyn and that The New Lottery Company should have won instead.
The claimants also alleged that the Gambling Commission and Allwyn entered into impermissible modifications to the licence arrangements following the conclusion of the bid process.
The High Court rejected all allegations raised and ruled firmly in favour of the Gambling Commission, which welcomed the decision and said it had run a “fair and robust competition” for the licence.
The court has since ordered Northern Shell to cover 75% of the overall costs of the trial, a sum that amounts to more than £40m, according to a report by CityAM.
The trial itself ran from 9 October to 2 December 2025, with an additional day of proceedings taking place in January this year.
Neither Northern Shell nor The New Lottery Company has commented publicly on the costs ruling following the court’s latest decision.
A Northern Shell spokesperson had previously indicated the company planned to appeal the original High Court decision handed down in April, though no such appeal has yet materialised.
Allwyn has been operating the National Lottery since February last year, though its start date was delayed due to various legal challenges surrounding the licence award process.
Camelot initially accused the Gambling Commission of not being upfront in its communication surrounding the process, which led to the High Court automatically suspending the licence decision before Camelot ultimately dropped its challenge.
Allwyn subsequently acquired the Camelot UK business that had been operating the National Lottery, and later purchased the North America-facing Camelot Lottery Solutions.
International Game Technology also pursued a claim for damages in relation to the licence decision but later withdrew it after striking up a technology partnership with Allwyn.
Despite clearing competitor legal challenges, Allwyn has faced criticism for not delivering on certain pledges it made when originally bidding for the licence, including delays to lowering the main draw ticket price to £1 and rolling out digital upgrades.
Upcoming changes include the launch of a UK-specific version of Powerball, which has never previously expanded outside the United States, alongside a new two-round format for the main UK lotto draw launching from 7 June at no extra cost to players.
