An interview with Dianne Thompson, CEO, Camelot

On 15 May we were delighted to honour Dianne with a lifetime achievement award for her services to business and leadership.

We heard about the challenges Dianne faced during her time at Camelot, from fighting off Richard Branson's People Lottery in the High Court to her more recent battle to raise awareness of the links between National Lottery players and the charity causes it supports.

We interviewed Dianne to find out a little bit more about her incredible journey.

What project are you proudest about the National Lottery funding?
The total of £31 billion raised so far for National Lottery projects is something that as a nation we can – and should – all be incredibly proud of. The scale and scope of National Lottery funding is immense and with an average of 135 grants per postcode district, virtually everyone in the UK will have benefited. But if I had to single out one thing, it would be the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The National Lottery contributed £2.2 billion to what were, in my opinion, the greatest Games ever – and the legacy of those Games will continue for many, many years to come.

What's the biggest challenge facing you this year?
To retire from my job as CEO of Camelot in October without becoming an emotional wreck on my last day. After pouring love, sweat and tears into the business and its people for 17 years, 14 of them as its CEO, Camelot feels like my extended family – and while I’m very excited about the future and my new hotel venture in the Isle of Wight, I will miss them all terribly. I just hope I can hold it together to get through my leaving speech.

How would your PA describe you?
Hopefully as a great friend, a good boss, and probably as a workaholic!   

What keeps you awake at night?
At the moment, nothing, which is a blessing. Once I retire and start focusing more fully on running my new hotel on the Isle of Wight, I suspect that will change as I will be undertaking a huge refurbishment project. – and so there may be quite a few sleepless nights to come before it’s finished.

What's your guilty pleasure?
Watching Masterchef. The first thing I’m doing with my new hotel is to turn its restaurant into a fine dining establishment, so I love seeing some of the new ideas and exciting dishes created on the show.

What does a bold marketing leader look like?
Someone who is fearless, with great instinct that they have the confidence to trust – but who also understands the importance of excellent quant and, crucially, qual research, and who takes it fully into account when making brand decisions or creating campaigns.

What advice would you offer to a marketer starting out today?
Try to gain experience across as many marketing areas as possible early on in your career, rather than specialising straight away. The temptation in today’s digital world could easily be to jump straight into a career in e-commerce and digital marketing, but if you want to progress to a senior level, you have to know the job across the board.

What advice would you give your 17-year-old self?
To enjoy the ride and trust your judgement – you’re going to have lots of ups, a few downs, but ultimately you’ll be able to look back with pride on what you’ve achieved and will make some life-long friends along the way.

Tell us a secret
I have a ‘Lotto’ tiara that I have kept from one of our millionaire winner celebration events. It takes pride of place on a shelf in my kitchen.

We were privileged to hear from Dianne over dinner and you can read about the evening's highlights in our Events Gallery.