Flutter Reviews 100 Paddy Power Shops As Tax Bites
Paddy Power’s famous shopfronts are thinning out. Flutter Entertainment has confirmed that up to 100 of the bookmaker’s UK and Ireland betting shops are under review, a move that could put roughly a fifth of the estate on the closing-down list before the end of the year.
What’s been released
Flutter Entertainment confirmed that up to 100 Paddy Power shops are “under review”, with approximately 400 roles potentially put at risk of redundancy as it implements cost-cutting measures.
Paddy Power currently runs 506 betting shops across the UK and Ireland: 310 in Britain and Northern Ireland employing 1,374 staff and 196 in the Republic of Ireland employing 935 people.
The latest wave of closures would represent one fifth of the betting operator’s retail estate.
A spokesperson for Flutter UK and Ireland described it as an
“extremely difficult decision to conduct this review.”
What’s changed
The trigger is tax rather than trading appetite.
Remote gaming duty rose from 21% to 40% from April 2026, with a further increase in remote betting duty to 25% due from April 2027, after high street shops were spared the immediate cost of those hikes while remote gaming duty took the brunt.
Flutter said cost-cutting measures were needed to mitigate the near-doubling of RGD.
The company’s own words to press pointed at a wider squeeze too, citing rising costs, fierce competition, economic uncertainty and the shift to online, alongside a material impact from the higher gambling taxes announced in last year’s UK Budget.
The timing follows a rocky set of numbers.
Flutter’s Q2 results saw the Paddy Power, Sky Bet and Betfair owner swing from a $37m profit to a $296m loss year-on-year
, even though
UK and Ireland revenue grew 4% year-on-year in Q2 to $971m
. The review also lands alongside a boardroom shift, with
Peter Jackson set to leave his position as Chief Executive Officer, to be replaced by current Flutter International CEO and President, Dan Taylor
.
Where it fits
Paddy Power’s high street contraction is not an isolated case.
Betfred announced 132 betting shop closures at the end of July citing higher online taxation, Evoke announced 270 William Hill betting shop closures in March following a strategic review, and Entain said in April it would close a third of its Ladbrokes betting shops in Ireland.
It also builds on Flutter’s own retail trimming, with
the last wave of closures in November comprising 27 betting shops in Britain, 28 in Ireland and one in Northern Ireland.
For UK players, the story is less about what’s on offer in shops and more about where operators are choosing to put their money as remote gaming duty reshapes the wider business. Flutter has been vocal about protecting its online growth, with
Jackson stating that Flutter is confident in “substantially increasing UK market share” as smaller operators feel the pressure of tax rises, and that the firm has “a very sustainable and clear plan to mitigate the tax changes.”
Retail estates may be shrinking across the sector, but the group’s digital brands, including Betfair casino and Sky Vegas, remain the part of the business Flutter is leaning on hardest as the tax landscape shifts.
Sources
- SBC News – Flutter ponders closure of 100 Paddy Power shops due to higher taxes and “economic uncertainty”
- Gambling News – 100 Shops, 400 Jobs at Risk as Paddy Power Initiates Review
- iGaming Express – Flutter to Review 100 Paddy Power Shops
- NEXT.io – 100 Paddy Power shops may close with 400 jobs at risk
- FOCUS Gaming News – Flutter’s Paddy Power to close up to 100 UK and Ireland betting shops
- Brit Brief – Paddy Power to close up to 100 shops, 400 jobs at risk
