National Lottery (United Kingdom) National Lottery is franchised to a private operator; the Camelot Group was awarded the franchise on 25 May 1994. The first draw took place on 19 November 1994 with a television programme presented by Noel Edmonds. The first numbers drawn were 30, 3, 5, 44, 14 and 22, the bonus was 10, and seven jackpot winners shared a prize of £5,874,778. Tickets became available on the Isle of Man on 2 December 1999 at the request of Tynwald. A second lottery draw, Thunderball, was introduced by Camelot on 12 June 1999. The National Lottery undertook a major rebranding programme in
National Lottery Commission UK Ltd. Following an evaluation period, on 7 August 2007 the NLC announced that Camelot Group plc was the preferred bidder to become the operator of the next National Lottery Licence. Camelot’s bid was selected as the bid most likely to generate the best returns to good causes over the course of the licence. The licence came into force on 1 February 2009, to run until 2019, with the option of up to five years' extension. National Lottery Commission The National Lottery Commission was an organisation set up on 1 April 1999 under the National Lottery Act 1998 to regulate