Sazka bolsters bid team for UK National Lottery licence
Bid chair Sir Keith Mills reveals he will take stake in operator should bid be successful
Czech gambling giant Sazka Group has added four new members to its team to strengthen its bid for the UK National Lottery licence in 2023.
The operator has appointed leaders across its transition, supply chain, organisation and network area arms as it restructures its team following the appointment of London 2012 Olympic mastermind Sir Keith Mills as bid chair in November.
All four new members of the team have extensive experience across both sports and retail, with two of the four having worked alongside Mills during the London 2012 Olympics.
Head of telecommunications for the London 2012 organising committee Emma Young joins as transition lead, while former London 2012 procurement director Gerry Walsh has been onboarded to head up the supply chain management arm.
Ex-IOC HR advisor Rob Clarke has been appointed organisation leader while Steve James, who worked with Qatar ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, joins Sazka as network area lead and will be responsible for data communications.
Elsewhere, Mills has revealed that he will take a minority stake in Sazka if the group’s bid for the contract is successful.
Speaking to the Evening Standard, Mills declined to reveal how much he would gain in the operator but said the need to revamp the UK National Lottery was of paramount importance.
Mills said: “The new operator needs to win back the eight and a half million people who have stopped playing the lottery since 2012 as well as attract new players, if the funding for the arts, heritage, sport and community sectors is to grow.”
Sazka is hoping to wrest the UK National Lottery licence from Camelot when it launches its bid next year.
Camelot has held the UK National Lottery licence since its inception in 1994.