Flutter plans up to 1,400 UK and Ireland job cuts after tax rise

Flutter Entertainment plc announced a restructuring of its UK and Ireland operations that could lead to up to 1,400 job losses. The plan is subject to consultation procedures, and the final number of affected roles will be set at the end of that process.

The company said the decision responds to the significant increase in gambling taxation announced by the UK government in the Autumn Budget 2025. The plan could affect employees at several sites, including Leeds in the UK and Dublin in Ireland, and potentially staff in the British and Irish divisions based at international hubs in Porto, Portugal, and Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Flutter currently employs about 28,500 people globally, of whom 9,000 are in the UK & Ireland division; the maximum proposed number of job losses would represent about 15.6% of that division's workforce.

Flutter said the restructuring aims to reduce fixed costs while preserving investment in its commercial offer and customer services. On the financial side, the group expects implementation costs of $80m-90m, to be booked in Q4 2026; those charges had already been included in the updated guidance issued with its second-quarter results. Under previous financial guidance, the changes to UK iGaming taxation are expected to have a negative impact on 2027 adjusted EBITDA of $540m, of which Flutter plans to offset $201m through a first set of mitigation measures.

Kevin Harrington, chief executive of Flutter UK & Ireland, said his immediate priority is to provide support to the colleagues involved and to guide teams through what he described as a difficult period. Harrington said the significant increase in betting and gaming taxes announced in the UK budget last year had radically changed the economic model of the regulated betting and gaming industry in the UK and had helped to feed the unlicensed and unregulated market. He said the company could not fully absorb an increase of that scale without reducing its fixed cost base, and that it remained confident of being well positioned to benefit from an increase in market share as the largest operator in the UK.