Flutter plans up to 1,400 UK and Ireland job cuts in response to higher UK gaming taxes

Flutter Entertainment plans to cut up to 1,400 jobs in its UK and Ireland business, a restructuring the FanDuel and Paddy Power owner said is designed to blunt the impact of higher UK gaming taxes.

The company said in an 8-K Tuesday that it committed to the plan and began notifying affected employees that day. The cuts, which remain subject to consultation, will affect staff in locations including Leeds in the UK and Dublin in Ireland, as well as UK and Ireland employees at Flutter hubs in Porto, Portugal, and Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Flutter employs 28,500 people worldwide, including 9,000 in the UK and Ireland business, according to a press release filed with the 8-K.

The cost

Flutter estimates pre-tax charges of about $80 million to $90 million, mostly cash severance, benefits and related costs, to be incurred in the fourth quarter. It also expects non-cash stock-based compensation charges that it cannot yet estimate.

Those costs were already captured in the updated guidance Flutter issued with its second-quarter earnings update, when it raised its outlook for restructuring, transaction and integration costs to $500 million. The company expects to substantially complete the plan by the end of 2026.

The tax squeeze

The UK government's Autumn Budget last year raised the iGaming tax by 19 percentage points to 40%, effective April 2026, and lifts the sports betting rate, excluding horseracing, by 10 points to 25% from April 2027, Flutter said.

The company put the 2027 adjusted EBITDA impact of the UK iGaming tax changes at $540 million, which it expects to offset with $201 million of first-order mitigation. Flutter said the restructuring is part of that mitigation and should help it preserve investment in its customer proposition.

"As we warned a year ago, we cannot fully absorb a rise of this magnitude without reducing our fixed cost base," said Kevin Harrington, chief executive of Flutter UK & Ireland. He added that Flutter remains confident it can benefit from share gains as "the largest scale operator in the UK."

By the numbers

• Job cuts: up to 1,400
• UK and Ireland workforce: 9,000 of 28,500 globally
• Pre-tax charges: about $80 million to $90 million, in Q4 2026
• UK iGaming tax: 40% from April 2026, up 19 points
• UK sports betting tax: 25% from April 2027, up 10 points

Sources

1. Flutter Entertainment plc, Form 8-K (Items 2.05 and 7.01) with Exhibit 99.1 press release, filed Oct. 20, 2026, accession 0001193125-26-425686

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