Camelot has been given a vote of confidence by its retailers. Two-thirds of those who have the lottery are either completely or very satisfied with the operator, a poll has shown.
According to Camelot's annual customer satisfaction survey, all retailers considered the relationship to be as good or better than 12 months ago, with 60% saying the relationship had improved. None were dissatisfied with the operator.
The results of the survey come as Camelot prepares its bid to retain the lottery licence. All bids must be prepared by December 2006 and the licence is expected to be awarded in June 2007.
Camelot has the backing of retailer Steve Kozera, who runs a Spar store in Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria. He said: "Camelot is quick at responding to queries and we always get the information we need on new games. There are no hassles with our relationship at all. When the lottery first started we had to call out engineers to fix the terminals every few months, but we rarely have to now."
Camelot's director of sales Steve Lucas added: "This research is a testament to the time and effort that has gone into building a two-way relationship with our retail partners over the years. I would like to thank retailers for their hard work."
l Camelot and the Big Lottery Fund have selected Leicester and Plymouth to participate in a trial voting scheme that decides which local projects should benefit from lottery funding.
'Your Pound Your Choice' will give locals the chance to choose which projects should receive a Big Lottery Fund grant of up to £50,000.