The National Lottery, Camelot UK Lotteries - £100bn+
HhM provided the overall writing strategy for Camelot’s highest-scoring bid to operate the National Lottery, including workshops, editorial advice and workstream management.
Project Overview
From 2019 to 2022, Hillhouse Morgan (HhM) played a pivotal role in a strategic procurement project undertaken by the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (OTPP). This project involved a bid to operate the UK National Lottery for a decade, starting from 2023.
Challenges and Initial Engagement
Worth approximately £100bn over a ten-year period, the National Lottery represents the largest public sector procurement in Europe. The project required complex coordination of a sophisticated Public-Private Partnership (PPP) deal between a pension fund and its international partners in a challenging and high-value government procurement for the operation of a significant public asset.
HhM pitched a comprehensive range of bid services to Camelot to help them secure this contract, beating other major consulting firms such as Teneo and KPMG to secure the contract. Services rendered included:
- Bid management, strategy, and budget/resource management (£40m+)
- Editorial, graphic design, and storytelling development
Results and Challenges
Despite the bid’s high quality, which earned Camelot the highest quality score, its winning competitor, who did not score as high on the quality submission, outbid Camelot by c.£10bn in financial projections. The awarding of the contract is currently subject to a UK high court challenge, with a verdict expected in 2023.
Conclusion and Lessons Learned
Navigating the complexities of this procurement provided us with valuable experience in coordinating, managing, and leading a complex bid team. The team comprised OTPP, Camelot, and over 100 suppliers, amounting to a total of 400 individuals spread across 12 workstreams and multiple time zones.
The ability to successfully manage such a comprehensive and diverse team underlines HhM’s capabilities in handling complex and intricate projects. This experience has added to our proficiency in navigating the challenges posed by complex, high-stake PPP procurements involving multiple international partners and stakeholders.
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