Allwyn has announced the new leadership team that will oversee the delivery of the Fourth National Lottery Licence, which begins on 1 February 2024, and the transformation of The National Lottery over the next decade.
Robert Chvátal, Allwyn CEO who will hand over the reins of the UK leadership to Andria Vidler in October, commented: “This is a talented team with deep experience and a strong personal commitment to delivering the very best for communities across the UK through ever greater returns to Good Causes from The National Lottery. Andria and I look forward to working with them all over the coming years.”
From 1 October 2023, the new Allwyn leadership will be:
- Chief Executive Officer – Andria Vidler
- Chief Assurance and Participant Protection Officer – Gaby Heppner-Logan
- Chief Commercial Officer – Lucy Buckley
- Interim Chief Data Officer – Martin Novak
- Chief Financial Officer – Alan Artz
- Chief Operating Officer – Chris Lyman
- Chief People Officer – Sam Sheriff
- Chief Strategy and Corporate Affairs Officer – Alastair Ruxton
- Chief Technology Officer – Mark Smith
- General Counsel – Harry Willits
- Operations Director – Jenny Blogg
- Operations – Transformation Director – Eddie Bennett
- Technology – Transformation Director – Paul Lumb
Advisors to 4NL Executive team/3NL leadership representation to support transition and integration:
- Camelot and 3NL Co-CEOs – Neil Brocklehurst, Clare Swindell
The leadership team includes new recruits: Andria Vidler, whose appointment was announced in July; Alan Artz, who joined Allwyn in this summer from William Hill; Chris Lyman who will move from his role as CEO of Lotto New Zealand back to the UK to join Allwyn in October; and Mark Smith, currently Group Chief Technology Officer at ITV who joins in November.
Current Camelot co-CEOs, Neil Brocklehurst and Clare Swindell, are supporting the handover to the incoming Allwyn UK CEO, Andria Vidler before their departure.
Robert Chvátal added: “I’d like to express my huge thanks to Clare, Neil and all the Camelot leadership team for their sterling work over many years supporting The National Lottery. The National Lottery makes a huge contribution to communities across the UK through the money it generates for Good Causes. They have a great deal to be proud of. I wish them all the very best for the future.”
Notes
- Allwyn will become the operator of The National Lottery under the Fourth Licence, from 1 February 2024.
- Allwyn Group acquired Camelot UK Lotteries in February 2023: more here.
- Biographies:
Andria Vidler was announced as the new CEO of Allwyn, to lead The National Lottery, in July. Andria joins Allwyn 1 October from Tag Worldwide, a leading global marketing production business where she was EMEA CEO. Andria was previously CEO of EMI in the UK and Ireland, and CEO of Centaur Media, as well as holding senior roles at Capital Radio, Bauer Media and the BBC. More information here.
Neil Brocklehurst has been Co-CEO of Camelot since February 2023. He was previously Commercial Director, and Managing Director of Camelot Global where he ran both the European and North American businesses.
Clare Swindell has been Co-CEO of Camelot since February 2023. Clare joined Camelot in 2017 as its Chief Financial Officer. She was previously Group CFO for Dunnhumby and held a number of senior finance and operation roles at Tesco. Clare is a Non-Executive Director at Fever-Tree Drinks plc.
Alan Artz, Chief Financial Officer, joined Allwyn and Camelot on 1 July 2023 in a dual role to support the smooth transition between the Third and Fourth National Lottery licences. Al joined from William Hill where he served as the CFO for the online business and, more recently, also took ownership of the retail business. Al previously held senior finance roles in a number of blue chip companies including Sky, BT and Barclays.
Eddie Bennett, Operations – Transformation Director, joined Allwyn as Operations Director in 2022. Eddie has over 20 years senior management experience in the gaming sector, including roles at Boylesports, Tote and Sky Betting and Gaming.
Jenny Blogg, Operations Director, is currently Camelot’s Commercial Director. Jenny joined Camelot in 2017 and previously served as Retail Director and Head of Retail Operations. Jenny has previously held a wide range of senior commercial and operational roles organisations that include Mondelez International, Cadbury UK, United Biscuits and Danone Group.
Lucy Buckley, Chief Commercial Officer, is currently the Commercial Director at Allwyn and was a member of the original Allwyn bid team. She has an extensive background in marketing communications, product and digital transformation within online gambling and lottery. Lucy was previously Marketing Director and Vice President of Interactive at Inspired Entertainment where she was responsible for establishing and running the online division. She has been twice named in the Gaming Intelligence Hot 50 list.
Gaby Heppner-Logan, Chief Assurance and Participant Protection Officer, is currently Camelot’s Director of Regulatory Affairs. Gaby joined Camelot in 2018 and was previously BT’s Group Director of Regulatory Affairs and formerly led marketing, communications, employee engagement and corporate social responsibility teams at Openreach, BT and Cable & Wireless.
Paul Lumb, Technology – Transformation Director, is currently Allwyn’s Technology Director. He joined Allwyn in 2022 and is responsible for the technology transition. Paul has led many technology transformations across telecoms, retail, software and payment services. In his previous role, he led the design and build of greenfield Business Support Systems and Operational Support Systems in the public cloud for a UK mobile operator.
Chris Lyman, Chief Operating Officer, joins Allwyn on 23 October from Lotto New Zealand where he has been Chief Executive since 2018, and was formerly the Chief Operating Officer for five years. During his tenure, Lotto New Zealand has embraced digital play, and experienced record levels of growth. Chris previously held a number of roles in UK retail, specialising in channel growth and operations. Chris will be accountable for leading all aspects of lottery business operations (retail and digital) for Allwyn in the Fourth Licence, as well as overseeing the delivery of Allwyn’s transformation programme.
Martin Novak, Interim Chief Data Officer, is currently Data Director at Allwyn in the UK as well as Head of Business Intelligence at SAZKA, the Czech lottery operator that is also part of Allwyn Group.
Alastair Ruxton, Chief Strategy and Corporate Affairs Officer, led the delivery of Allwyn’s bid to operate the Fourth National Lottery Licence and is currently Allwyn’s UK Corporate Services Director. Alastair was previously a member of the London 2012 bid team and worked with the Organising Committee for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games from start to finish. Alastair originally trained as a lawyer.
Samantha Sheriff, Chief People Officer, joined Allwyn earlier this year as its People Director. In May, she broadened her role to become Chief People Officer at Allwyn and at Camelot, to support the smooth transition from the Third to the Fourth National Lottery Licence. Sam previously worked in senior People leadership roles across retail, professional services, software and technology, construction and luxury hospitality.
Mark Smith, Chief Technology Officer, joins Allwyn 1 November from ITV where he was Group Chief Technology Officer, spearheading the launch of ITV Hub and more recently ITVX. Mark was previously at the BBC, with responsibility for the build and running of BBC iPlayer, and Director of Online Delivery and Operations at Sky where he worked across a wide range of consumer facing digital services.
Harry Willits, General Counsel, joined Allwyn in this role last year. Harry has held a series of senior legal roles in the leisure and entertainment industry, including as Group General Counsel at William Hill, General Counsel and Company Secretary at Gala Coral Group and General Counsel and Company Secretary at Luminar Plc. Harry was previously Head of Leisure at law firm, Wragge & Co.