Mark Holmes (28), his brother Ian (32) and dad Les (58) have been in a family syndicate for the last 12 years and have played with the same line and number combinations since then, buying a Lotto ticket every week.Mark explains: "We religiously play the same numbers which we chose at the start, but we never thought we would land the jackpot! On Saturday night, me and my girlfriend Holly (24) were watching X Factor at our house and after a phonecall from my brother, we decided to check our numbers. I can't believe we have actually won, we are all over the moon!
"I called the Lottery Line five times just to check that the six numbers on our ticket matched the numbers drawn. When it finally sunk in, I spoke to Camelot to confirm we had the winning ticket, and for safe keeping, we put it in a metal tin - just in case!
"Holly saw a fortune teller back in June who told her she would have some luck and that the number 7 was important - this was the set of balls used in the machine when we won, so it must have been fate."
Mark says that the best thing about winning is financial security - especially during the current climate. He currently works as a manager but is also a bit of an entrepreneur. Holly and Mark co-founded two companies - Festi4, a festival coach transport company and Eastern Province, an online shop for Fairtrade furniture - and Holly runs them full time. In the future, Mark hopes to be able to build these businesses to be even bigger and better. Ian is a machine operator and has already decided that he will leave his role to join Mark and help develop the companies into true family businesses.
Mark added: "Holly and I will now do what we have always wanted to do - buy a retirement home in Corfu. We won't move house but maybe get a new car - something practical such as a 4X4 to help us with the festival company - we need something which can go through fields easily!"
Ian and his wife Debbie (28), who is a medical receptionist, are already planning to buy a new home in the local area. Mark adds: "It is a double celebration for them as it was their anniversary on 25 October as well. They have two young children and need more growing space, so a new home would be perfect."
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