Thompson in line for top Camelot job

DIANNE Thompson, chief executive of Lotto company Camelot, is expected to be asked by shareholders to take Michael Grade's job as chairman. He left on Friday to become chairman of the BBC.

Thompson has halted the slide in lottery sales for the first time in five years and a full year of sales growth is now expected. She has pledged to stay with the company until she has put sales on a rising trend.

Camelot shareholders have become increasingly anxious that Thompson will be headhunted for another job. They regard offering her the chairmanship as 'an elegant solution' to keep her on board as the company heads towards another round of bidding for its licence.

Thompson is known not to want to go through another round of bidding as chief executive. And Camelot would be reluctant to face another gruelling contest if it lost both its chairman and chief executive.

It is thought that Grade favours elevating Thompson, with whom he has worked closely. She would then be charged with recruiting a new chief executive to spearhead the company's licence bid.

Cadbury, one of Camelot's major investors, is also thought to believe that moving the chief executive into the chairman's role would be attractive.

No firm proposal has yet been put to Thompson - Grade's decision to resign was not announced until Friday. But taking the chairmanship on a part-time basis would allow Thompson, 53, to take on a portfolio of non-executive roles or undertake one more big job before she retires.

Shareholders are said to be relaxed about allowing another senior non-executive director to become interim chairman if Thompson prefers to wait before stepping up.

Reversing the decline in lottery sales makes Thompson a more attractive target for other companies. She has overseen the launch of new games, notably the European lottery, and ensured that 90% of terminal repairs can now be handled by Camelot's call centres. This means an extra 500 terminals are in use at any one time, helping to boost sales.