Flutter Plans Up to 1,400 Redundancies in UK and Ireland Restructure

Flutter Entertainment announced plans on October 20, 2026 to restructure its UK and Ireland business, with the changes expected to result in up to 1,400 redundancies, subject to consultation. The company said the decision responds to the increase in UK gaming taxes announced in the UK Government’s 2025 Autumn Budget.

Flutter, which describes itself as the world’s leading online sports betting and iGaming operator, said the restructuring sits within first-order cost mitigation it had already guided to, following what it called a significant increase in UK gaming taxation. The company said it continues to expect a very significant impact on the overall market from the increases.

Flutter said the restructure is expected to support delivery of material second-order mitigation benefits by preserving investment in its customer proposition.

The decision will affect staff in locations including Leeds in the UK and Dublin in Ireland, as well as UK and Ireland staff at Flutter hubs including Porto, Portugal and Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The group said it employs 28,500 people globally, of whom 9,000 work in the UK and Ireland business.

Costs and Financial Guidance

Flutter put the cost of implementing the restructuring at $80 million to $90 million. It said those costs were captured within the updated guidance issued with its second-quarter earnings update and will be incurred in the fourth quarter of 2026. A footnote to the announcement said Flutter had, at the second quarter of 2026, increased its guidance relating to restructuring, transaction and integration costs to $500 million.

Flutter also said the total adjusted EBITDA impact of the changes to UK iGaming taxes in 2027 was $540 million, in line with previous guidance, and that it expects $201 million of first-order mitigation to offset that impact.

Harrington’s Statement

Kevin Harrington, Flutter UK and Ireland chief executive, said his immediate focus was providing the necessary support for impacted colleagues and guiding the company’s teams through the period.

“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 said.

Harrington said Flutter had warned a year earlier that it could not fully absorb an increase of that size without cutting its fixed costs, and that the company therefore had to restructure to position itself for the future. He added that Flutter remained confident in its ability to gain share, citing its position as the largest-scale operator in the UK.

The 2025 Gambling Duty Changes

HM Revenue & Customs detailed the measures in a gambling duty changes policy paper published on November 26, 2025. Under the changes, Remote Gaming Duty increased from 21% to 40% for accounting periods beginning on or after April 1, 2026, chargeable on profits from remote gaming from that date.

A new 25% rate within General Betting Duty will be chargeable on profits from remote betting from April 1, 2027. Remote bets on UK horseracing are excluded and remain unchanged, in recognition that operators contribute 10% towards the statutory Horserace Betting Levy, which the paper said results in an existing de-facto 25% rate on bets on UK horse races. Bets placed via self-service betting terminals on licensed premises will not be treated as remote and remain subject to the 15% rate for general bets, while General Betting Duty rates for bets made in UK premises, horse and dog pool bets, and financial and non-financial spread bets are unchanged. The penalty provisions for General Betting Duty, Remote Gaming Duty and Pool Betting Duty are being updated so that current legislation reflects the Finance Act 2014.

Bingo Duty was abolished with effect from April 1, 2026. The government said the repeal supports lower-risk activities and bingo clubs and simplifies the tax system by removing one of seven gambling duties; HMRC estimated 134 businesses will no longer be required to pay Bingo Duty or submit Bingo Duty returns.

HM Revenue & Customs said increasing gambling duties will raise over £1 billion per year to support the public finances. The government targeted the biggest increase on remote gaming products, such as online slots and casino games, which the paper said are generally considered to have lower operating costs and to be more harmful than other forms of gambling, with the stated intention of disincentivising gambling companies from pushing consumers towards those products. The government said it applied a lower tax rise to remote betting than to remote gaming after weighing evidence and views that remote betting is not as harmful as remote gaming, while recognising the growth in online betting and its lower costs compared with retail operations.

The government announced at the 2024 Autumn Budget that it would consult on reforms to the tax treatment of remote gambling, and the consultation ran from April 23 to July 21, 2025. It sought views on a single Remote Betting and Gaming Duty covering activities including online casinos, bingo, slots and sports betting. The government decided not to proceed with the single duty after hearing representations that remote betting and remote gaming differ in terms of costs and harms, opting instead for changes that retain a differential between betting and gaming duty rates.

The policy paper set out exchequer impacts of an additional £810 million in 2026-27, rising to an additional £1,155 million in 2030-31, figures it said were set out in the 2025 Budget and certified by the Office for Budget Responsibility. HM Revenue & Customs estimated the Remote Gaming Duty increase and the new remote betting rate will affect around 160 businesses providing remote betting to UK customers, 95 businesses providing remote gaming and 55 businesses providing both, and said those businesses will see an increase in their duty bills, with how they respond a matter for the businesses themselves. The paper said individuals would be affected if the duty increase is passed on through a negative change in betting odds or return to player.

HM Revenue & Customs said consideration will be given to monitoring or evaluating the expected exchequer impacts of the policy once two years of monitoring data have been collected and analysed.