The Health Lottery assets of the NHS Lottery were purchased in 2007 by Altala Group Ltd, a company run by Ian Milligan, a former employee of Camelot Group, the operators of the UK National Lottery. Altala went into administration in 2009, shortly before it was due to be granted its gambling licence, and was purchased by Health Lottery Ltd. After winning the licence, the Health Lottery was sold in February 2011 to Richard Desmond's Northern & Shell group. The Health Lottery launched in September 2011. Until the summer of 2018, The Health Lottery had operated 51 society lotteries across Great Britain. This structure
National Lottery (United Kingdom) 2012. This was a world record unclaimed prize. All investment income from unclaimed prizes also goes to good causes via the National Lottery Distribution Fund. The National Lottery is regulated by the Gambling Commission. Previous regulators were the Office of the National Lottery (known by the acronym OFLOT) until 1 April 1999, and the National Lottery Commission – a non-departmental public body reporting to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport – until 1 October 2013. The Lottery was set up in 1993 under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993 and was reformed under the National Lottery Act 1998 and