Flutter plans up to 1,400 UK and Ireland job cuts over tax rises

Flutter Entertainment plans to cut up to 1,400 jobs across its UK and Ireland operations, the company announced on Tuesday. The redundancies are subject to consultation and respond to increases in UK betting and gaming taxes announced in last year's Autumn Budget, the company said.

The roles affected include staff in Leeds and Dublin and UK and Ireland positions based in offshore hubs such as Porto and Cluj-Napoca. A Flutter spokesperson said cuts can be expected across every function of the company.

Flutter estimated the cost of implementing the measures at between $80m and $90m, expected to be recognised in Q4 2026. The company employs approximately 28,500 people globally, of whom roughly 9,000 work in its UK and Ireland business.

Kevin Harrington, chief executive of Flutter's UK and Ireland business, said the tax rise had "fundamentally changed" the economic models of regulated operators in the market. He said the company had warned a year ago that it could not fully absorb a rise of that size without reducing its fixed cost base, and that it must restructure to position itself for the future. Harrington added that Flutter remains confident it is well placed to benefit from share gains given its position as the largest scale operator in the UK.

Rachael Reeves, who was chancellor at the time, used last year's Autumn Budget to set out a near-doubling of remote gaming duty, taking it from 21% to 40%. That increase began applying on 1 April this year. A separate remote betting duty is set at 25%, up from the current 15%, and is due to start in April 2027. Councils were also handed new powers aimed at stopping retail locations from opening, the government said.

Other operators have also announced cost reductions. In August, Betfred said it planned to close up to 132 betting shops in the UK and reduce its workforce by more than 600 employees. Evoke closed approximately 200 William Hill shops earlier this year, around 15% of its retail estate, and bet365 cited tax-related costs when it set out plans to cut around 340 jobs last month.

Attention now turns to the UK budget, which is set to be announced next week. The Social Market Foundation, a think tank, has pressed the government to hike machines games duty on higher-risk Category B machines, and speculation has grown that the duty is set to double to 40%. A group of Labour MPs led by Alex Ballinger wrote last week to the UK chancellor, Jon Healey, asking that the MGD rise be included in his budget.

According to Betfred owner Fred Done, who spoke to the Financial Times in September, further tax increases risked causing shop closures on a wide scale and the near-elimination of the UK's retail betting market. Flutter had itself disclosed only a month earlier that it was weighing the closure of as many as 100 Paddy Power shops.