Allwyn UK unveils new leadership structure and executive changes to drive next stage of National Lottery transformation. Editorial Standards Fact-Checked ⊘ Independence Commercial Disclosure GC AI Summary Allwyn UK has announced a new leadership structure taking effect December 1, 2026, designed to accelerate growth, increase returns for Good Causes, and improve experiences for players and retail partners. The changes include merging technology capabilities into existing divisions, eliminating several standalone executive roles, and creating two new positions: Chief Digital Officer and Chief Marketing Officer. Several executives will depart as part of the restructure, including the Chief Technology Officer, Managing Director of Digital, and Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, while Stephen Taylor will join as interim Chief Marketing Officer on November 17, 2026. Key Takeaways Strategic restructuring - Allwyn UK has announced a comprehensive leadership overhaul designed to accelerate growth and increase returns for Good Causes Channel integration - Key commercial, customer, and technology capabilities are being integrated more closely around Retail and Digital channels, dissolving standalone CTO and Digital MD roles New executive roles - Two pivotal roles, Chief Digital Officer (CDO) and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), are being established, with Stephen Taylor joining as interim CMO on November 17, 2026 Social impact focus - Current Chief Impact Officer Alastair Ruxton will step into a dedicated Director of Social Impact role, reporting directly to CEO Phil Walker to better connect gameplay with community benefits Fact-checked Sources verified before publication Allwyn UK has announced a comprehensive new leadership structure aimed at driving the next phase of its ongoing transformation of The National Lottery. Set to take effect on December 1, 2026, the updated senior team framework is engineered to accelerate business growth, increase financial returns for Good Causes, and enhance the overall experience for players and retail partners. By aligning key commercial, customer, and technology capabilities more closely around Allwyn's Retail and Digital channels, while elevating the strategic importance of marketing, the operator is streamlining its corporate architecture. To reinforce the direct connection between playing The National Lottery and supporting community initiatives across the UK, Alastair Ruxton will transition from Chief Impact Officer to a newly created, dedicated Director of Social Impact role reporting directly to CEO Phil Walker. Furthermore, as part of the operational integration, technology capabilities will merge directly into Digital, Retail, and Security, leading to the conclusion of the standalone Chief Technology Officer and Managing Director (Digital) roles. Responsibility for overarching strategy and future business direction will transition to the CEO, concluding the Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer position. Executive transitions and new appointments. The structural evolution involves several key departures and new additions. Current Chief Technology Officer Mark Smith will step down from his executive duties but remain as a Technology Strategy Adviser through June 2027 to ensure seamless technical continuity. Richard Dawkins, Managing Director of Digital, will depart in December 2026 after nearly three years of steering digital transformation and portfolio innovation, while Sarah Venning, Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer, will leave the business at the end of November 2026. To support future growth, Allwyn is introducing two critical executive positions: * Chief Digital Officer (CDO): Will oversee digital products, channels, customer experience, technology, data platforms, automation, and AI, alongside commercial accountability for digital channels. * Chief Marketing Officer (CMO): Will unify Brand, Marketing, Creative, CRM, Communications, Product Marketing, Winners' Services, and Customer Experience. Stephen Taylor will join Allwyn as interim Chief Marketing Officer on November 17, 2026. Bringing over three years of executive marketing expertise with major global brands including PayPal, Samsung, Nokia, and Pizza Express, Taylor joins from his strategic advisory firm, CMO Thrive. Leadership perspective on strategic growth. Commenting on the structural transformation, CEO Phil Walker stated: "The transformation of The National Lottery has involved an enormous amount of work across our business. Our challenge now is to turn that transformation into stronger growth, a better experience for players and retail partners, and more money for Good Causes. That means putting customers closer to our decisions, giving our Retail and Digital businesses the capabilities they need to compete and innovate, and creating much clearer accountability for performance. Good Causes are at the heart of what makes The National Lottery special. We have a real opportunity to help more people understand the extraordinary difference players make through The National Lottery and make that an even stronger reason to play." Dimitri is an iGaming expert with nearly a decade of experience and a knack for crafting content that speaks directly to the iGaming crowd. He understands affiliate marketing, player psychology, and search algorithms, which enables him to write engaging, data-driven articles. 1 source verified before publication. This news is an official press release that traces directly to official documents by Allwyn UK. How Gamblers Connect verify sources CEO Phil Walker · November 5, 2026 Official Body Primary "The transformation of The National Lottery has involved an enormous amount of work across our business. Our challenge now is to turn that transformation into stronger growth, a better experience for players and retail partners, and more money for Good Causes. That means putting customers closer to our decisions, giving our Retail and Digital businesses the capabilities they need to compete and innovate, and creating much clearer accountability for performance. Good Causes are at the heart of what makes The National Lottery special. We have a real opportunity to help more people understand the extraordinary difference players make through The National Lottery and make that an even stronger reason to play." Gamblers Connect only publishes verified and official news from reputable corporations. Read its full editorial standards News by Region

UK National Lottery under review by audit watchdog. Published on: 20th October 2026 | Last updated: 20th October 2026, 1:45 pm The UK National Lottery will undergo an audit review by the National Audit Office (NAO), which will look into how effective the Gambling Commission and the Department for Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) have been in handling the licence transition and their oversight duties. The fourth licence to operate the lottery was won by Allwyn UK following a tender application against main rival Camelot, which had been operating the lottery since 1994. Coming into effect in 2024, Allwyn had promised to double good causes contributions from £30m to £60m per week, or £3.2bn per year, by the end of its 10-year contract. Yet to be achieved, granted the operator is still in the second year of its tenure, some have called Allwyn's commitment as ambitious. But this is to be expected from a company like Allwyn, Editor of SBC News Ted Orme-Claye said, with the commitment highlighting the importance of the contract for the operator and setting a clear standard for the rest of its 10-year tenure. "I think that Allwyn in general is a very ambitious company. This really just speaks more to their group-wide ambitions of being a lottery entertainment company. They know that getting that UK lottery tender was a really big moment for them a couple of years ago," Orme-Claye said for the iGaming Daily podcast. "They'd already established themselves as a prominent operator in other markets. The Czech Republic, Greece, building up a bit of a presence in North America as well. Getting that UK contract was a really big moment for them. "I think they wanted to set that target very early to set a precedent throughout the rest of the 10-year license." It is worth noting, however, that good causes contributions came to an almost decade-long drop between April and June this year, standing at £377.2m according to official Gambling Commission data. The reasons behind this could be various, but it would not aid Allwyn once scrutiny of its licence management starts building up, Viktor Kayed, Senior Journalist at SBC News, added. "It does raise a question when performance falls behind expectations that underperformance could have a lot of reasons behind it. "It could be the economic environment in the UK itself, it could be the jackpot cycles. If Lottery Daily is looking at the operator, it could be how those games are being marketed and delivered to market. "However, the drop from April to June being the lowest quarterly figure in a decade will definitely not help Allwyn's case whenever further scrutiny arises in the future." The assessment by NAO, which will continue until Spring 2027, will look at whether the Commission and the DCMS have put an effective framework in place to ensure that contributions are maximised, including support for the licence transition and the design of the award process itself.