Liverpool office syndicate win £45.5m Euromillions payout

Nov 10 2009 by Ben Schofield, Liverpool Daily Post

IT WAS probably the best start to the working week anyone could hope for. Seven office workers in Liverpool city centre arrived at their desks yesterday to find they were £45.5m richer.

The lucky syndicate scooped half of Friday’s £91m Euromillions lottery jackpot, which was UK’s largest ever lottery payout.

Some of the group turned up at their Wood Street offices not knowing they were in line for a £6.4m windfall each.

Lottery operator Camelot confirmed all the staff work for IT firm Hewlett Packard and are based in BT’s Royal House.

A co-worker there said last night: “You can only imagine what it was like when it dawned on them.

“I’ve heard they just went mad, screaming and shouting. It has been the talk of the building. No one can believe it. They are a very lucky bunch.”

Another worker said the syndicate was whisked away early yesterday morning by a Camelot representative.

It is thought all but one of the syndicate members come from Merseyside. Their identities will be confirmed at a press conference at Wirral’s Thornton Hall Hotel and Spa today.

But yesterday, they were put through Camelot security checks before meeting a private banker who handled the money transfer and offered investment advice.

A member of staff leaving the BT office for the day, who did not want to be named, said the new millionaires were all members of management.