Hundreds of post offices to stop selling scratchcards after lottery ownership change
The UK's Post Office has said its branches will stop selling lottery tickets and scratchcards as a default, giving outlets a choice on what they stock.
Lottery operator Allwyn outlined low sales and religious beliefs as reasons for the decision, which has led to a fifth — or around 900 — fewer shops supporting the money-spinning tickets. Meanwhile, the National Federation of SubPostmasters blamed high prices for the slowing sales.
Allwyn told the PA news agency that more than 600 branches had chosen not to continue selling, while up to 200 were unable to because of county court judgements.
Part of the problem with the changes is that the Post Office will no longer cover the initial cost of buying the scratchcards, and that individual branches will now pay for themselves. This would mean a risk of losing money on unsold stock, according to comments in a BBC report.
The UK's Gambling Commission also does not allow the sale of lottery tickets without also selling scratchcards.
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“We have taken advantage of a change in the ownership of the National Lottery to deliver more money for Postmasters," a Post Office spokesperson said.
"They now have independent retailer agreements with Allwyn, meaning Postmasters who sell National Lottery products will receive all sales commission, as our processing costs for sales are entirely removed. Postmasters had consistently told us that they wanted to work directly with the National Lottery."
The Post Office added the last year has been spent "supporting postmasters to transition to the new lottery provider", following Allwyn's acquisition of Camelot in February last year.
At the time it was reported that the deal means subpostmasters will no longer pay a 1% admin fee taken off remuneration levels as part of the Post Office’s existing contract with outgoing operator Camelot.
The National Lottery is one of the world’s largest lotteries and, since launching in 1994, players have raised more than £48bn for more than 685,000 good causes across the UK.
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