Paul Davy will never forget the weekend that he was a millionaire when a massive National Lottery win hit his bank account.
The 61 year old logged on to his bank account just to admire the seven-figure sum sitting there. Because his next job was to divvy it up with 14 of his colleagues.
Eight years after Davy, from Swansea, and his colleagues in the finance department at Tata Steel began clubbing together to play the lottery as a syndicate, they hit the big-time.
‘It all started when we were working on an intense project, doing 12 and 13-hour days for months,’ says Davy. ‘One night we were having a bit of a joke and said if we won the lottery, we could be at home. So we started a syndicate.’
Since 2018, the 15-strong group have each contributed £5 whenever the jackpot goes above £100million. Some of them have now retired or moved jobs, but they have stuck with it.
Davy buys the tickets through the National Lottery app and any small wins are added to the kitty to buy more tickets the next time.
When he received a notification on his app on February 27, he assumed the syndicate had won another £2.40 prize as they often did. And they had – but there was a bit more too. ‘Congratulations Paul, you’ve only gone and won £1,000,002.40’, the message read.
‘I thought there was something wrong with the app,’ says Davy. ‘I turned my phone off and back on, and then asked my partner Kirsty to check it. We were dumbfounded.’
All UK entries for the Euromillions are also entered into the Millionaire Maker, a raffle to win a separate prize of £1million.
Still in disbelief, Davy set about telling his workmates. ‘It was late at night when I found out but I decided to start calling people because I thought: well I’m not going to sleep tonight, so neither are you!’
Some of the syndicate who won the lottery. From left to right, Sally Wise, Ian Howells, Christine Davies, Gillian Furlong, Raja Prasad, Paul Davey, Allan Evans and Julie Lambert
To his dismay, no one believed him at first. ‘So I sent everyone copies of the ticket with the numbers and the message on the app, but some of them still didn’t believe me.’
One of the group members, Alan, was celebrating his 65th birthday when Davy phoned with the news. He was already set to retire that month, so the windfall had been a welcome boost to his savings.
The rest of the group range from their late 30s to 65, some are already retired or have moved to part-time work or other jobs, so they don’t see each other every day now.
A few of them met to celebrate the Tuesday after the win, but rather than fine dining and champagne, they opted for a beer and a game of pool.
A few weeks later, after the various official checks had been carried out, the money landed in Davy’s bank account.
‘I was a millionaire for the weekend, but on Monday I went to the bank and transferred everyone in the group their money,’ he says. ‘You would think seeing the money go would be heartbreaking, but there is a real joy in sharing the win.’ Each member of the syndicate has ended up with £66,666.82.
Davy moved to part-time working hours in January so his share is a welcome boost to his retirement savings pot. He also plans to spend some of it on a car and a holiday with his partner, Kirsty – they’re considering a Mediterranean cruise.
Other members of the group have used it to clear their mortgage, buy a new kitchen and renovate their home. One of the group, Sally Wise, is doing all three.
The rest of the syndicate also clubbed together to pay for Davy and Kirsty, 52, to stay in a hotel for the night as a thank you for being the organiser.
‘They’re such a nice bunch of people, and some of us have worked together for 19 years, so sharing it with them has been a great feeling,’ says Davy.
Davy buys the tickets through the National Lottery app and any small wins are added to the kitty to buy more tickets the next time
In it together
Syndicates are a way for people to pool their money to try to increase their chances of winning a lottery. From work colleagues to sporting teams, school friends and families, there are no restrictions on which groups can enter (apart from the usual age limits).
To play, groups must appoint a syndicate manager – this is the person who will receive the payment if a prize is won, and will be tasked with distributing the money. ‘There is a lot of trust involved,’ says Davy, who is the manager for his group.
Other considerations include agreeing on which draws will be played, how often and how much each member will contribute. They also must decide how prizes will be shared or if they will be reinvested to buy future entries, discuss the best way to keep in touch – by email or a WhatsApp group, for example – and what happens if there is a win but someone has missed a payment.
The National Lottery website has a syndicate agreement template that can be downloaded for free, which it suggests groups use to document their preferences.
A syndicate can be legally enforced, although this is much harder if it is an informal, verbal agreement. Having a written agreement, which lays out the members of the group and how the prize is to be split, provides valuable extra protection on the off chance that something does go awry.
For those playing online, the syndicate manager can register an account. This is where they can buy entries as well as receive notifications about any wins.
For Davy and his colleagues, there is no formal agreement. For each draw, he sends an email to the group which lays out the day and date of the draw, and that it is an equal share syndicate where each person has contributed £5 and will get an equal split of any winnings.
Documenting everything is important, otherwise if the winnings are paid to one member of the group, who then distributes the money to the rest, this could be interpreted by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) as a gift for tax purposes. This could have inheritance tax implications if the member dies within seven years.
HMRC says that transferring winnings to members of a syndicate is not a ‘chargeable transfer’, but says syndicates ‘may think it wise to record in a written, signed and dated statement, the existence and terms of the agreement between them’.
Keeping it in the family
For Deon Bowman, 43, and her family, the idea to create a National Lottery syndicate came in 2020, when the first Covid lockdown was announced.
Worried about the future of the family pub, which they had owned for 18 years, Deon, her dad Stephen, 70, mum Beverley, 62, and brother Stephen, 44, decided to buy a ticket – if they won the jackpot, at least they could live off the winnings if the pub couldn’t open.
‘From then on, every Tuesday and Friday, Mum would pop to the local shop and buy our tickets. We just carried on ever since,’ says Deon, who lives in Hull.
It was midnight one Saturday last August when Deon saw dozens of messages and missed calls on her phone. Her mum had also tried to call Deon’s husband, Adam Bowman, 42, and son.
‘I started crying. I thought something awful must have happened. When I called Mum back, she couldn’t speak,’ says Deon. ‘At midnight I was crying, and by 5am I’d decided how to spend £70,000.’
Left to right, family winners Stephen Ulla Sr, Stephen Jr, Beverly Ulla and Deon Bowman at the Cavern Club in Liverpool
The family had got five numbers and one Lucky Star correct in the draw and won £416,000 – a life-changing sum, even split between them all. Deon has used the money to buy a new car and a motor home for exploring the Lake District. Her parents have also bought a new motor home and a new oven, while her brother has bought a car. Her 17-year-old daughter, Millie, asked if she could get a Birkin handbag with some of the winnings – then they realised the bags start at £17,000.
They celebrated the win with a family trip to Liverpool, including a stay at a Beatles-themed hotel and lunch at the iconic Cavern club. And while they have kept the family pub, her parents have semi-retired and now only open on the local football club’s match days.
‘It’s money we didn’t have before, so I want to enjoy it and use it to create memories. But we have been a bit sensible too – I’ve put some money in savings and my brother cleared his mortgage,’ says Deon.
‘A syndicate is great because it means you’re in it with someone else. It’s so nice to share. We’re so close as a family, I’d have shared the money even if I had won by myself.’
What are the chances
The odds of winning the Lotto jackpot are tiny – one in 45million. For the Euromillions, it is about one in 139million.
The chances of winning the Thunderball top prize of £500,000 is about one in 8million, and for Set for Life, where the top prize is £10,000 a month for 30 years, it’s one in 15.3million.
Rebecca Williams, from the financial planners Rathbones, says: ‘Statistically, you’re more likely to be struck by lightning than land the jackpot – which is why the lottery isn’t factored into any sensible long-term financial plan.’
Playing with a syndicate can slightly improve your odds as you are buying more tickets between the group – but of course you will have to share any winnings. Over the past five years, about 6 per cent of winners have been syndicates, according to the National Lottery.
You can technically do a syndicate with any lottery, but the logistics might not be as simple. Some companies also don’t recognise them, which could make it harder to enforce if the manager decided not to share the winnings.
It is possible to do a syndicate with Premium Bonds, but NS&I does not officially recognise them and you cannot hold bonds jointly or on behalf of other people. Similarly, Omaze entries are registered to individual accounts – splitting the winnings would be difficult here as the prize is a property, which is harder to share than cash.
At a time when the cost of living is rising, the idea of hitting the bigtime can feel particularly appealing. But Sarah Coles, director of personal finance at AJ Bell, warns that playing the lottery could be a slippery slope: ‘Once you start entering regularly, especially if you play the same numbers, you can start to feel you have to enter every time in case your numbers come up and you miss out.’
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What to do with a windfall
Whether it’s a lottery win, inheritance or work bonus – it’s important not to rush into a decision about what to do with the money, says Williams.
Those with expensive debt, such as a credit card or loan, should prioritise clearing this. If you don’t yet have an emergency savings pot, it could go towards building one.
Experts typically recommend having enough cash to cover three to six months’ worth of essential outgoings.
Those who are behind on retirement saving could take the opportunity to top up their pension. You can contribute up to £60,000 or 100 per cent of your earnings (whichever is lower) each tax year.
Beyond this, consider investing towards longer-term goals such as moving up the property ladder or clearing the mortgage.
Those planning to share their win with loved ones should be mindful of gifting rules. It is possible to give away £3,000 a year without it being taxable, and under the seven-year rule you can give away larger amounts as long as you live for seven years after making the gift.
Coles adds: ‘Of course anyone who gets a windfall will want to spend some of it. And if you have a lifelong dream – whether that’s to start a business, buy a home or take a trip – as long as you’re not neglecting your wider financial planning, this could be your chance to make it a reality.’
Have you won a large lottery prize? moneymail@dailymail.co.uk
