Flutter Entertainment to Lay Off Up to 1,400 Employees Due to UK Tax Hikes

Flutter Entertainment, the company behind Paddy Power, is planning significant job cuts, with up to 1,400 employees set to be laid off. The layoffs are primarily due to increased UK gaming taxes, with the Remote Gaming duty rising to 40% from 21% and general betting duty set to increase to 25% from 15%.

The job cuts will affect key locations including Leeds, Dublin, Porto, and Cluj-Napoca. Flutter Entertainment employs 9,000 people in its UK & Ireland business, with more than 1 in 9 employees now set to be let go. Kevin Harrington, chief executive of Flutter UK & Ireland, stated that the decision came after the company warned the government about the impact of increased taxes.

Flutter Entertainment, which also owns Betfair and FanDuel, has stated that these layoffs may not be the last measure the company needs to take to cope with the current business landscape. The company argues that the tax increases will have a significant impact on the overall market and that the restructuring is expected to support Flutter in delivering material second-order mitigation benefits by preserving investment in their customer proposition.