Phil Smith, former commercial and operations director of lottery operator Camelot, looks set to take the helm at Musgrave Budgens Londis (MBL).

MBL, owned by Musgrave Group, has been seeking an MD for its UK business since last November when Mike Taylor resigned, after two years in the role, to "seek out new business opportunities elsewhere".

A spokeswoman would neither confirm nor deny that Smith was taking the role. "We are in the process of looking for a managing director of our Great Britain business," she added.

Smith, who was believed to have his eyes on the top job at Camelot, left the lottery operator in February after its CEO Dianne Thompson revealed her intention to stay at the company until at least 2012 if it won a third licence to operate the National Lottery from 2009 to 2019.

Camelot is tipped to win the bid, with a decision due in late August, but faces rivalry from Indian lottery operator Sugal & Damani.

Smith effectively took control of the day-to-day running of Camelot in May 2005 while Thompson put together Camelot's licence bid. He joined as a commercial director in January 2002, having previously held

marketing roles with Somerfield and Kraft Foods.

The MBL spokeswoman was also unable to discuss the future of Martin Hyson, executive director of Musgrave Group, who has been acting as MBL's MD since Taylor's departure almost eight months ago.

MBL recently launched a new look for its Budgens and Londis stores to celebrate the independence of its retailers. It has put more emphasis on the provenance of its fresh produce, as well as hot food to go, bakery, and beer, wines and spirits in Budgens and Londis.

The company is converting Budgens to a pure franchise operator by the end of the year and has 13 corporate stores left to sell.

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