Flutter Entertainment set to let go of up to 1,400 people

• Flutter Entertainment is enacting some of its widest job cuts to date, with up to 1,400 positions affected
• The move affects the company’s UK & Ireland business specifically, and will target domestic as well as global staff hubs
• Flutter Entertainment has explained that the changes were necessitated because of changes to the UK’s gaming tax

Flutter Entertainment, the owner of Paddy Power, is looking to drastically scale down its workforce in the United Kingdom and Ireland as it executes a planned restructuring that may affect as many as 1,400 people.

Flutter Entertainment is enacting company-wide job reductions

The move is necessitated, argues the company, by the increase in UK gaming taxes that was voted in with the 2025 Autumn Budget. The Remote Gaming duty rose to 40% from previously 21%, with general betting duty set to increase to 25% from 15% currently in April 2027.

Hundreds of jobs are now going to be affected, the company confirmed, with key locations targeted including Leeds and Dublin, as well as other hubs for the company’s UK & Ireland staff such as Porto, Portugal, and Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Flutter Entertainment employs 9,000 people in its UK & Ireland business, with more than 1 in 9 employees now set to be let go, while the company’s global workforce numbers 28,500 people.

These layoffs are some of the biggest announced by a gaming company in recent months, with others, including Betfred and bet365, also resorting to further headcount reduction to address what they have called tougher operational conditions.

In a statement, Flutter Entertainment, which also owns Betfair and FanDuel, argued that this may not be the last measure the company may need to enact to cope with the current business landscape:

"We continue to expect these tax increases to have a very significant impact on the overall market."

"The restructure announced today is expected to support Flutter in delivering material second-order mitigation benefits by preserving investment in our customer proposition, and underpins our confidence in our ability to gain share," the company added.

Kevin Harrington, chief executive of Flutter UK & Ireland, has argued that this decision was not taken in a vacuum and came after the company warned the government to be prepared for reciprocal measures as businesses in the sector attempt to reduce their fixed cost bases.

The restructuring is a direct result of this. "The material increase in betting and gaming duties announced in the UK Budget last year has fundamentally changed the economic model of the regulated betting and gaming industry in the UK while helping to fuel the unlicensed, unregulated market," Harrington explained.

The executive noted that his immediate priority was to help support impacted colleagues and guide the team through what is admittedly a difficult period.

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