Flutter job cuts: Paddy Power owner plans up to 1,400 redundancies, blaming tax rises
Flutter Entertainment, the Paddy Power and SkyBet owner, announced plans on Tuesday for flutter job cuts of up to 1,400 roles in its UK and Ireland division, blaming gambling tax rises imposed by Rachel Reeves.
Flutter job cuts: Paddy Power owner plans up to 1,400 redundancies, blaming tax rises
Flutter Entertainment, the owner of Paddy Power and SkyBet, revealed plans on Tuesday to restructure its UK and Ireland division with up to 1,400 redundancies, which it attributes to the gambling tax rises announced by Rachel Reeves. The flutter job cuts come as the company employs 8,960 people in its domestic market, meaning more than 10% of its UK and Ireland workforce could lose their jobs [F1, F2, F4].
Where the redundancies will fall
The redundancies affect staff in Leeds, Dublin and Sunderland, as well as offices in Porto in Portugal and Cluj-Napoca in Romania. Many of the job losses are expected to fall in Leeds, SkyBet's key centre of operations.
- Affected locations: Leeds, Dublin, Sunderland, Porto and Cluj-Napoca
- Current UK and Ireland headcount: 8,960
- Expected concentration: Leeds
The tax rises Flutter blames
Flutter points to the significant increase in gaming duties announced by Reeves in the 2025 autumn budget. Remote gaming duty on online casino games was raised from 21% to 40%, and duty on online sports bets from 15% to 25%.
Kevin Harrington, Flutter's UK and Ireland chief executive, said the duty rise "has fundamentally changed the economic model of the regulated betting and gaming industry in the UK". He added that "we cannot fully absorb a rise of this magnitude without reducing our fixed-cost base", and that Flutter must restructure as a result. Harrington also said the company is well placed to gain share as the largest scale operator in the UK.
Cost of the restructuring and the industry reaction
Flutter expects a one-off cost of $90m (£67.3m) from the redundancies, and its shares rose more than 2% in early US trading.
- Entain, owner of Ladbrokes, and Evoke, owned by William Hill, have also blamed Reeves for poor results or job cuts
- Paddy Power's founder Stewart Kenny accused the industry of "scaremongering" about jobs to avoid paying more tax
- An unnamed industry insider said Flutter's absorption of SkyBet, bought in 2026, was likely a contributing factor, saying "Government policy changes ran alongside existing integration of its [Flutter's] brands with inevitable job cuts"
The restructuring lands a week before John Healey's first budget as chancellor, with Healey considering an increase in machine games duty. Industry figures have warned such a rise would trigger thousands of job losses and have cautioned Healey to expect further contraction among major operators.
The Social Market Foundation has called for doubling machine games duty from 20% to 40%, saying this could raise up to £460m. Adult gaming centres - slot machine venues on high streets that can open 24 hours a day - are understood to be a main target of any rise, and Andy Burnham has been a vocal critic.
Some insiders believe gaming centres with lower overheads could survive a tax rise relatively unscathed, whereas betting shops and casinos would face closures. The gambling industry takes £13bn from British punters every year.
