Flutter Entertainment, the group behind Paddy Power, Betfair and Sky Bet, is preparing to shed up to 1,400 jobs in its UK & Ireland division, pointing squarely at the steep rise in British betting and gaming duties that took effect this spring.
Key takeaways
- Up to 1,400 roles at risk across Leeds, Dublin and UK & Ireland teams in Porto and Cluj-Napoca — around 15% of the division's workforce.
- Restructuring costs estimated at $80–90 million, to be booked in Q4 2026, with most of the work done by year-end.
- Flutter blames remote gaming duty nearly doubling from 21% to 40% in April 2026.
- The group expects the new UK taxes to cut its adjusted EBITDA by $540 million in 2027.
- The cuts land days before a UK Budget that could also double machine games duty.
A restructure "across every function"
The redundancy plan, announced to the markets on Tuesday 20 October, remains subject to consultation. It will touch staff at Flutter's major hubs in Leeds and Dublin, as well as UK & Ireland-facing employees based at the group's offshore sites in Porto (Portugal) and Cluj-Napoca (Romania). A company spokesperson indicated that no department would be spared, with reductions expected across every function of the business.
Flutter employs roughly 28,500 people worldwide, around 9,000 of them in the UK & Ireland unit, so the proposed cuts equal about 15% of the division's headcount. Employees began to be notified on the day of the announcement, and the group expects to complete most of the restructuring by the end of 2026.
"As we warned a year ago, we cannot fully absorb a rise of this magnitude without reducing our fixed cost base and therefore must restructure our business so that we can best position ourselves for the future."
— Kevin Harrington, CEO, Flutter UK & Ireland
Harrington argued that the duty increases have "fundamentally changed" the economics of regulated betting and gaming in Britain while helping to fuel the unlicensed market. He said his immediate priority is supporting affected colleagues through what he called a difficult and challenging period, but stressed that Flutter, as the UK's largest-scale operator, still expects to pick up market share as smaller rivals struggle.
The financial picture behind the cuts
The restructuring is expected to cost between $80 million and $90 million, mostly in severance payments, employee benefits and related expenses, all recognised in the fourth quarter of 2026. Flutter says the programme should deliver "material second-order mitigation benefits" against the higher tax bill.
The scale of that bill explains the urgency. Flutter has previously estimated that the UK tax changes will reduce its adjusted EBITDA by around $540 million in 2027. It expects to offset roughly $201 million of that through an initial round of cost-cutting, which includes this restructuring. When the group reported its second-quarter results in August, it said the higher duties had already contributed to a 45% fall in adjusted EBITDA for the quarter.
Flutter has said it expects the duty increases to have a “very significant impact” on the UK market as a whole, not just on its own results. Its strategy rests on the idea that the biggest operators, with the deepest technology and marketing budgets, can absorb the pressure better than smaller rivals, some of which may scale back or leave the regulated market altogether. The Betting and Gaming Council warns of the flip side: further tax rises, it says, will accelerate job losses and shop closures while handing an advantage to the unsafe, unregulated illegal gambling market, which pays no UK duty and offers none of the licensed sector's protections.
How UK gambling taxes have changed
The pressure stems from the November 2025 Budget delivered by then-chancellor Rachel Reeves. Online casino-style products took the biggest hit, while online sports betting (excluding horse racing) faces a second step-up next year.
| Duty | Before | After | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|
| Remote gaming duty (online casino) | 21% | 40% | 1 April 2026 |
| General betting duty (online) | 15% | 25% | April 2027 |
| General betting duty (retail shops) | 15% | 15% | Unchanged |
| Machine games duty (higher rate) | 20% | 40% proposed | Pending next week's Budget |
The Budget also handed local councils new powers to block gambling premises from opening, adding a regulatory squeeze on top of the fiscal one.
Part of a wider wave of cuts
Flutter is far from alone. Over the past few months, the UK industry has seen a steady stream of retrenchment from operators of every size:
| Operator | Announced measure |
|---|---|
| Betfred | Up to 132 shop closures and 600+ job cuts (August) |
| Evoke | Around 200 William Hill shops closed, ~15% of its estate |
| Bet365 | Around 340 job cuts, citing tax-related costs (September) |
| Entain | 400 customer care roles cut (September) |
| Flutter (Paddy Power) | Up to 100 shop closures under review, ~400 jobs at risk (September) |
| Flutter (UK&I) | Up to 1,400 redundancies (October) |
According to the Betting and Gaming Council, more than 600 betting shops have closed or announced closure since the last Budget, with over 10,000 jobs lost or put at risk. BGC chief executive Grainne Hurst called Flutter's announcement further evidence of the real-world consequences of the tax rises, adding: "These are not just numbers. They are people facing uncertainty over their livelihoods."
Machine games duty: the next flashpoint
Attention now shifts to the upcoming Budget, due next week. A group of around 90 Labour MPs led by Alex Ballinger has written to chancellor John Healey urging him to double machine games duty to 40%, echoing a proposal from the Social Market Foundation think tank that targeted higher-risk Category B machines. The MPs argue that a higher rate would help protect poorer communities from the spread of adult gaming centres.
"EY modelling shows a rise to 40% could cost up to 16,000 jobs, close nearly 1,500 betting shops and 34 casinos, and leave the Treasury up to £124 million worse off."
— Grainne Hurst, CEO, Betting and Gaming Council
Betfred founder Fred Done has gone further, warning in September that additional tax rises could lead to mass shop closures and all but wipe out Britain's retail betting sector. Betfred has previously threatened to close its entire estate of more than 1,200 shops.
What it means for the industry
- For operators: fixed-cost reduction is becoming the default response to higher duties, and scale matters more than ever — Flutter is betting that weaker competitors will exit first.
- For employees: job losses are spreading beyond retail shops into head-office, customer service, tech and offshore support roles.
- For players: expect tighter promotions and fewer high-street shops as margins shrink, while the industry warns the black market stands to gain.
- For policymakers: next week's decision on machine games duty will show whether the government is prepared to push the sector further.
Sources: iGaming Business, Personnel Today, Casino.org, Flutter Entertainment statement.
