Court of Appeal Refuses TNLC Permission to Appeal National Lottery Ruling

^{The rooftops of the Royal Courts of Justice in London, where the Court of Appeal ruled on The New Lottery Company's request to challenge the National Lottery licence award. (Photo: Tilman2007 / Wikimedia Commons)}

The Court of Appeal has refused The New Lottery Company Limited (TNLC) and Northern & Shell PLC permission to appeal part of the High Court ruling that dismissed their challenge to the award of the Fourth National Lottery Licence. The Gambling Commission confirmed the decision on 30 July 2026, drawing a line under litigation that had sought damages of up to £1.3 billion.

What the ruling means for Allwyn

The ruling was handed down at the Court of Appeal in London. The refusal removes one of the last obstacles to National Lottery operator Allwyn's long-term investment in the draw, and it hands the regulator a clear endorsement of the competition it ran. For players and the good causes the lottery funds, it points to stability after almost four years of legal argument over who should hold the licence.

How the £1.3bn licence dispute unfolded

The underlying claims were rejected in full by the High Court in April 2026. Mrs Justice Joanna Smith found against TNLC on every claim relating to the competition to award the Fourth Licence and to the later modifications made to the agreement between the Gambling Commission and the winning bidder, Allwyn UK.

TNLC and its backer Northern & Shell had argued that the process was flawed and that TNLC should have won the competition. The court disagreed, and the company then sought permission to take part of the case to the Court of Appeal.

The dispute stretches back to March 2022, when TNLC was informed it had been unsuccessful in the competition and the licence was awarded to Allwyn. The trial of the claims ran in the High Court between October and December 2025, with a further hearing in January 2026, before judgment was handed down the following April.

That application has now failed. All three grounds of appeal were dismissed by Lord Justice Coulson, who concluded that TNLC should not be allowed to raise a new legal argument, particularly where it amounted to running a case that had been expressly ruled out in the High Court. He added that, even on a lesser standard of proof, TNLC's prospects of success would have been 'vanishingly small', and noted that the company had suffered no loss in practical terms.

'This is an important decision for the operation of The National Lottery and one that we welcome,' a spokesperson for the Gambling Commission said in the announcement.

The spokesperson said the outcome gives 'resounding support to Good Causes' by enabling Allwyn, with oversight from the Commission, to continue with its investment plans 'without further distraction'. The regulator added that its priority remained regulating the lottery for the benefit of participants and good causes.

The National Lottery's £53bn record since 1994

The National Lottery has operated since 1994 and, according to the Commission, has raised more than £53 billion for over 680,000 good causes across the UK, funding arts, sport, heritage and community projects. Allwyn took over as operator under the Fourth Licence, ending three decades of stewardship by Camelot.

TNLC faces £40m bill as legal options run out

The High Court had already refused TNLC permission to appeal in May 2026 and ordered it to pay 75% of the Commission's costs and 70% of Allwyn's, a bill reported to exceed £40 million, on an indemnity basis. With the Court of Appeal now declining to reopen the case, the first-instance proceedings are effectively at an end. With this refusal, TNLC has exhausted the avenues it pursued in this litigation, and commentators have described it as the last realistic legal challenge to the licence award. Attention now turns to Allwyn's delivery of its ten-year licence commitments. Full details are set out in the Gambling Commission's announcement.