Flutter Entertainment has announced a restructuring of its UK and Ireland business that could eliminate up to 1,400 jobs, about 15% of the division’s 9,000 employees. The plans are subject to consultation.
Flutter employs 28,500 people worldwide. The reductions are expected to affect staff in Leeds and Dublin, as well as UK and Ireland teams based at hubs in Porto and Cluj-Napoca. Other roles in London, Sunderland, Gibraltar and Malta could also be affected; fewer than 100 Tombola employees in Sunderland, including remote workers, are among those impacted.
The company said the decision responded to the substantial rise in UK gambling duties set out in last year’s Autumn Budget. Kevin Harrington said the higher taxes had “fundamentally changed the economic model” of regulated UK betting and gaming, while also helping to fuel the unlicensed market.
Flutter said it could not fully absorb the increase without lowering its fixed-cost base. It said the restructuring should provide further mitigation while preserving investment in its customer proposition, and estimated implementation costs of $80 million to $90 million in the fourth quarter.
The group estimated that the UK iGaming tax changes would reduce adjusted EBITDA by $540 million in 2027 before mitigation. It expects $201 million of first-order mitigation against that effect. Separately, Flutter told the BBC that the tax increase would cut underlying profit by $320 million in the current year before savings and restructuring measures.
The company’s most recent results showed UK and Ireland revenue up 4%, driven by online gambling games. Across its worldwide operations, Flutter recorded a $299 million pre-tax loss in the three months to June, compared with a $205 million profit a year earlier, although sales rose 3% to $4.3 billion.
The Betting and Gaming Council called the proposed redundancies a devastating blow for workers and families. It estimated that about 12,400 jobs across the sector had already been lost or were at risk since last year’s Budget. A government spokesperson said the cuts were a commercial decision for Flutter, while acknowledging the impact on affected workers.
Remote Gaming Duty rose from 21% to 40% in April. The government has said its wider gambling-duty package will raise more than £1 billion a year, citing growth of more than 60% in remote-gambling gross gambling yield between 2015-16 and 2023-24. A new 25% remote-betting rate, up from 15%, takes effect on April 1, 2027.
