Retailers have helped Camelot to a record sales year. 

In its financial statement for 2010/11, the National Lottery operator revealed that retail sales increased by £237.5m to £5.8bn, a 5% growth compared to the previous year.

Total sales across all channels increased by £370.6m, a growth of 6.8% on the previous year, a sales record for the group. Retail continues to be the largest channel for Camelot, making up 85% of overall sales. 

Sales for draw-based games increased by £264.7m during the period. This growth has been attributed to the launch of the new-look Thunderball game, the brand new Lotto Plus 5 game and the two special UK Millionaire Super Raffles.

Scratchcards and online Instant Win games also rose by £105.9m throughout 2010/11.

Camelot group CEO Dianne Thompson said that these figures show that it has bucked the global trend of lottery operators undergoing a drop in sales recently.

“Our continued success in the face of a challenging economic climate and a worldwide trend of slowing lottery sales has reinforced our position as one of the world’s leading lottery operators,” said Thompson.

“Setting a new sales record this year is a fantastic achievement,” she added. “It’s the result of a great team effort at Camelot and a proven strategy for long-term, responsible growth that has seen sales rise steadily since the start of the second lottery license.”