Boldness and Collaboration are Fueling the UK National Lottery’s Next Era
Key milestones on schedule and new, modern technology facility opens in Warrington
Scientific Games created and produced the first UK scratchcard in 1995. Now thirty years later, as the exclusive scratchcard provider in the UK, the company is bringing world-leading, technology-driven portfolio management to The National Lottery. On February 1, 2024, teams from both Allwyn UK and the company celebrated the on-time opening of a high-tech, 92,000-square-foot state-of-the-art Scientific Games National Logistics Centre for UK Scratchcards.
The new facility is located in the industrial city of Warrington just south of Manchester to efficiently serve The National Lottery’s network of approximately 40,000 retailers. The scratchcards are produced at ScientificGames’ Leeds, UK facility, one of five production facilities worldwide with the capacity to produce a total of 53 billion scratchcards annually for its lottery customers in 50 countries.
“We just wrapped a multi-million-dollar investment in our instant games production technology in Leeds alongside opening the new Warrington facility. Warrington features the patented SciTrak Ultra technology that powers the Scientific Games Enhanced Partnership program used by some of the top-performing lotteries in the world,” said Chris Allen, VP of Lottery Marketing & Strategy at Scientific Games.
“SciTrak Ultra offers The National Lottery predictive ordering and machine sorting systems that will provide scratchcard supply-chain efficiencies and help drive responsible growth to good cause programs in the UK.”
In addition to these technology systems, the Scientific Games Enhanced Partnership – or SGEP program as the industry knows it – is a true partnership for full instant game portfolio management. The National Lottery will benefit from scratchcard order management for its retailers using data analytics, advanced logistics for retail order fulfillment, as well as insights and marketing support underpinned by the company’s ONE Segmentation player study.
“We knew performance, responsible growth and minimum environmental impact were the focus as Allwyn UK and Scientific Games were making bold plans to move The National Lottery forward,” shared Michael Conforti, President of International for Scientific Games, a 20-year industry veteran who helped win the Fourth License award efforts with Allwyn.
Although the official transfer of The National Lottery’s Fourth License would not take place until February 1, the teams remained centered on their goals and moved forward with purpose after many months of intense legal and media interest following the award.
“We began with a strong vision to responsibly grow The National Lottery and in this next era, substantially increase returns to the projects that it funds. Our teams came together with incredible collaboration to plan our strategy and set that vision in motion,” explained Conforti.
At the foundation of the planning were Scientific Games analysts, poring over historical data that would inform both traditional and digital game portfolios for the 30-year-old lottery that recorded USD 10.2 billion in annual sales in the nation of 67 million people (La Fleur’s 2023 World Almanac).
“Our ambition is to offer more games, attract more players, inject more entertainment, create more winners and raise even more money for National Lottery-funded projects. Powering that ambition is a significant investment in technology and operations as we modernize to secure The National Lottery’s future sustainability,” said Andria Vidler, CEO for Allwyn UK.
Allwyn’s transformation program for The National Lottery includes, in time, the conversion to Scientific Games’ advanced SYMPHONY enterprise gaming system and more than 40,000 retailer terminals. Additionally, Scientific Games will provide a new digital platform, and innovative instant win games created by SG Studios as well as partner studios around the world via the SG Content Hub Partner Program.
Thus far, it looks as if plans are falling right into place. Scientific Games has delivered on the company’s promise of an environmentally focused Warrington facility featuring solar and battery power, a radiant heating system, all-electric lift equipment and energy-efficient lighting.
“We are excited to be up and running – you can feel the excitement and momentum with our employees. Operations within the building are energy-efficient and our zero waste-to-landfill recycling processes are certified by Forest Steward Council standards,” shared Allen. “Our UK vehicles are all electric and we employ an internationally recognized sustainable courier for deliveries to The National Lottery retailers.”
Applying trusted technologies and 50 years of science inside game design and performance, Scientific Games continues to work with Allwyn to successfully deliver on the vision for The National Lottery’s next era.
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With products that generate 70% of global instant game retail sales, Scientific Games is the world’s largest instant games creator, producer and services provider and Europe’s largest lottery systems technology provider. The company currently serves 150 lotteries in 50 countries, including 19 of the Top 20 instant game lotteries.
ONE™ Segmentation, SciTrak™ Ultra, SG Content Hub™ and SYMPHONY™ are trademarks of Scientific Games. © 2024 Scientific Games, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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