Only 705 retailers failed to complete Allwyn’s trans­fer process allowing them to continue operating National Lottery services from next month.

Last year, store owners had until 18 December to transfer their details from Camelot to the upcoming lottery operator.

Allwyn director of chan­nel operations Alex Green revealed to Better Retailing that 97% of existing independent national lottery retailers had completed the process, meaning 22,795 out of independent 23,500 stores currently providing lottery services met the deadline.

Commenting on the success rate, Green said: “We’re thrilled by the high level of engagement and continued co-op­eration we’ve had from retailers.”

He added: “For those independents who weren’t able to sign up in time, they can still access the transfer portal at tnl­partners.co.uk or call the Retailer Hotline on 0800 8 40 50 60.

“Although there’s no guarantee that their transfer will be processed in time, we’ll be doing everything we can – as we truly value every one of our retail partners.”