LONDON - Sir George Russell, chairman of Camelot, the company that runs the British Lottery, delayed a confrontation with the government over huge executive pay rises because he was working abroad for another company. Sir George was in the US yesterday, Camelot said.
He is expected to return at the "end of the week" for an urgent meeting with the Heritage Secretary, Mr Chris Smith.
As the political row intensified yesterday, Mr Smith said he was "very angry indeed" at the Camelot figures showing payments to 10 directors had risen from £1.67 million to £2.32 million. The payouts came even though after-tax profits were down from £51.1 million to £46.8 million in the year ending March.
