Flutter plans to cut 1,400 jobs in the UK and Ireland

Flutter Entertainment plans up to 1,400 redundancies in its UK and Ireland division. The company expects the increased gambling taxes to put serious pressure on the regulated betting market. The plan was announced in a press release on Tuesday, 20 October, and is subject to consultation.

The downsizing covers several locations, notably Leeds and Dublin, as well as the group's international hubs in Malta, Portugal and Romania. Flutter employs about 28,500 people worldwide, of whom about 9,000 work in the UK and Ireland division. The proposed cuts amount to about 16 percent of the division's workforce.

Employees were called to a meeting with senior management on Tuesday morning. Staff in Gibraltar are also among those briefed. Division CEO Kevin Harrington said the priority is to support the affected employees. Harrington argued that the increase in betting and gaming duty announced last year has fundamentally changed the economic model of the industry and is feeding the unlicensed market. He said an increase of this size cannot be fully absorbed without reducing fixed costs.

Flutter said the redundancies are part of the cost reduction strategy it announced after the autumn 2025 budget. When the tax changes were announced, the company had estimated the pre-mitigation adjusted EBITDA impact at about $320 million for fiscal year 2026 and $540 million for 2027. The first mitigation measures were expected to offset $201 million.