Flutter to Cut 1,400 UK & Ireland Jobs as Betting Tax Bites

Flutter Entertainment has confirmed one of the biggest restructuring moves the UK gambling sector has seen in years, with up to 1,400 jobs set to go across its UK and Ireland business. The Paddy Power, Betfair and Sky Bet owner says the cuts are a direct response to last year’s tax rises, and they land just three weeks into new group chief executive Dan Taylor’s tenure.

What’s been released

Flutter Entertainment will make mass redundancies in its UK & Ireland operations as tax burdens continue to weigh heavily on the business, with up to 1,400 jobs cut across a number of locations including Leeds and Dublin, as well as UK & Ireland staff at Flutter hubs including Porto, Portugal and Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
The company currently employs around 9,000 people in its UK & Ireland division, out of
28,500 people globally
.

Reporting on the breakdown suggests
more than 450 roles are at risk in Leeds and around 240 in Dublin
, with the Dublin cuts
concentrated in the company’s global headquarters in Clonskeagh
. The plans were
confirmed in a statement made to the markets on Tuesday, 20 October, and remain subject to consultation
.

What’s changed

The driver is last year’s Autumn Budget.
Remote Gaming Duty almost doubled to 40 per cent from April 2026, while general betting duty for online betting, excluding horse racing, is set to increase to 25 per cent from April 2027.
Flutter had already flagged the scale of the impact:
it expects the total adjusted EBITDA impact of changes to UK iGaming taxes in 2027 to be $540 million, which will be offset with $201 million of first order mitigation.

Flutter UK & Ireland chief executive Kevin Harrington said the tax rise
“fundamentally changed the economic model of the regulated betting and gaming industry in the UK while helping to fuel the unlicensed, unregulated market.”
He added that the business
“cannot fully absorb a rise of this magnitude without reducing our fixed cost base.”
The restructuring itself carries a cost, with
Flutter saying its restructuring plan is likely to cost between $80 and $90m
, charges already captured in guidance issued at the company’s Q2 update.

Where it fits

Flutter is not acting in isolation.
Flutter is the latest and largest operator to cut jobs as the UK gambling sector grapples with the most significant tax overhaul in its recent history, with other companies warning of hundreds of millions of dollars in lost earnings.
The Betting and Gaming Council has used the announcement to press its case against further rises, with chief executive Grainne Hurst describing the cuts as
“another devastating blow to workers and families across our sector, and further evidence of the real-world consequences of the Government’s tax rises.”

For UK players, the immediate product experience at Paddy Power, Betfair and Sky Bet isn’t changing overnight, but the scale of the cuts, equivalent to
almost 16% of the 9,000-strong UK&I workforce
, shows how much the tax environment is now shaping where operators invest. Harrington insisted the group still intends to compete on product, stating Flutter remains
“well placed to benefit from share gains given our position as the largest scale operator in the UK.”
Whether that ambition translates into continued investment in casino content and app features, or a more cautious approach to new releases, is likely to become clearer as the Autumn Budget and its machine games duty decision land next week.

Sources

• SBC News – Flutter Entertainment to cut up to 1,400 UK & Ireland jobs
• CasinoBeats – Flutter to cut up to 1,400 UK & Ireland jobs as it absorbs 40% Remote Gaming Duty
• iGaming Business – Flutter to cut up to 1,400 jobs amid UK tax pressures
• iGaming Business – Flutter’s tax axe falls on Leeds and Dublin as Taylor era begins
• RTE – Flutter to cut 1,400 jobs, with 240 Dublin jobs at risk