Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Job change cost woman £3.3m from lottery win

Angela Singer
Thursday 21 September 2000 00:00 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

When workers join forces to do the National Lottery it must be the most frequently cracked joke: "I don't want to be left out if you lot win."

When workers join forces to do the National Lottery it must be the most frequently cracked joke: "I don't want to be left out if you lot win."

Yesterday, Sarah Allan, 26, felt the full force of it. Six weeks ago she left her job at the butchers shop where she had worked for six years as a part-time assistant. Last Saturday, the shop's syndicate, which she had set up, won £20m. She would have been due £3.3m.

The win by the group at the Robert Perrie Family Butchers in Lesmahagow, near Glasgow, is the third biggest lottery win in Britain and the biggest in Scotland. Yesterday they told of how they picked through a bin in the shop to find Monday's newspaper and check their numbers after forgetting they had bought a ticket.

Until three weeks ago, Ms Allan, who was the syndicate's manager, was named on the group's lottery agreement. Because she had left the firm, the syndicate drew up a new contract in which Ms Allan, who has two children, had no claims on any money won.

Ironically, she left the shop to increase her earnings. She wanted to work full-time and the butchers could not offer her more hours. After hearing about the win on Tuesday, she said she thought she would be entitled to part of the win because her name was on the original syndicate document, which she set up.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in