Flutter, the owner of Paddy Power, Sky Bet and Betfair, announced on 20 October that it will cut as many as 1,400 jobs. It blames the gambling tax rises in last year's Budget. Flutter UK & Ireland was among the firms whose bosses wrote to the Chancellor, John Healey, last week asking him to rule out further rises.
According to City AM, the cuts amount to about 15% of the UK and Ireland division's workforce, with roles affected in Leeds, Dublin, Portugal and Romania. Kevin Harrington, Flutter's UK&I chief executive, said the business "cannot fully absorb a rise of this magnitude without reducing our fixed cost base".
The cuts come on top of a September review of 100 Paddy Power shops that put around 400 jobs at risk. Flutter says those shops are not affected by this announcement.
City AM's account of the tax rises does not match the industry's. It says Rachel Reeves nearly doubled a gambling charge from 21% to 40%, effective April 2026, and that a levy on bookmakers' profits is due to rise from 15% to 25% from April 2027. The Betting and Gaming Council had described a doubling of Machine Games Duty from 20% to 40% as a reported plan. City AM does not name the duty it means, so which account is right cannot be settled here.
City AM also reports that the OBR warned in November 2025 that a shift to illegal gambling sites could cut the expected tax take by around £500m.