Court of Appeal refuses TNLC appeal over National Lottery licence
The refusal leaves April’s High Court judgment standing and the claimants facing indemnity costs across the entire proceedings.
The fourth National Lottery licence has been contested in the courts since April 2022, delaying the formal award until September that year. On 30 July 2026, the Court of Appeal refused The New Lottery Company Limited (TNLC) and Northern & Shell PLC permission to appeal the High Court judgment that dismissed their claims against the Gambling Commission.
Appeal refused
Richard Desmond’s investment company Northern & Shell and its lottery bid vehicle, The New Lottery Company (TNLC), lost the competition for the fourth National Lottery licence to Allwyn and then sued the Gambling Commission.
They argued that the competition had been run unlawfully and that TNLC should have won, and that the Commission and Allwyn later changed the terms of the licence in ways the procurement rules did not allow. The High Court dismissed both arguments in April 2026.
The companies tried to appeal the second point only. The Court of Appeal has refused them permission. Lord Justice Coulson found that TNLC was relying in part on an argument the High Court had already ruled out, that its chances of success would have been vanishingly small in any event, and that it had suffered no loss in practical terms. April’s judgment stands.
A Commission spokesperson welcomed the outcome and said:
‘This is an important decision for the operation of The National Lottery and one that we welcome. The Gambling Commission ran a fair and robust competition to award the Fourth National Lottery Licence and that none of the contested changes to the Licence, in the course of its implementation, were substantial or contrary to the relevant procurement regulations.’
The Commission said the decision lets Allwyn continue its planned investment in the National Lottery without further distraction, and that its priority remains regulating the lottery for participants and good causes.
What the High Court decided
The claimants sought up to £1.3 billion in damages, alongside about £17.5 million in bid costs.
Mrs Justice Joanna Smith found no manifest error in the Commission’s process and held that neither Camelot nor Allwyn should have been disqualified, concluding that the competition reached a lawful outcome.
Indemnity costs across the whole proceedings
Ruling on 22 May 2026, Mrs Justice Smith ordered indemnity costs against the claimants in favour of both the Commission and Allwyn, with payments on account of 75% to the Commission and 70% to Allwyn pending agreement or detailed assessment.
Indemnity costs are reserved for conduct the court considers out of the norm; the judge cited extraordinary conduct, including weak pleadings and the late abandonment of claims, and indicated that the Commission’s own costs were around £20 million.
How the licence was awarded
The competition drew four applications at the final stage, from Allwyn, Sisal Spa, Camelot UK Lotteries, and TNLC, with Allwyn named preferred applicant in March 2022 and Camelot named reserve applicant. Camelot then contested the decision, triggering an automatic suspension of the award, before withdrawing its appeal that September to pursue damages only.
The licence was formally awarded to Allwyn later the same month, to run for 10 years from 1 February 2024.
International Game Technology also pursued damages, but the High Court dismissed its claim in July 2023 after finding that it lacked standing. With TNLC’s appeal now refused, no challenge to the award remains live.
Allwyn’s position now
Allwyn now operates the lottery without live litigation for the first time since it took over. The Commission puts the total raised for good causes since 1994 at more than £53 billion, across more than 680,000 projects.
On 21 July, the operator began selling a UK version of Powerball, with jackpots starting at £12 million, under an agreement with the US Multi-State Lottery Association.
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