Paddy Power owner blames tax rises for plan to shed up to 1,400 jobs

Flutter Entertainment plans to cut up to 1,400 jobs across its UK and Ireland business, saying higher betting and gaming taxes have made its operating model less viable. The move could put more than one in 10 of its 8,960 workers in those markets at risk, intensifying debate over whether tax rises are driving job losses or are being used to justify wider cost-cutting.

The cuts are expected to affect staff in Leeds, Dublin and Sunderland, as well as offices in Portugal and Romania, with Leeds likely to be particularly affected after Flutter acquired SkyBet. The company expects a one-off cost of $90m (£67.3m); its shares rose by more than 2% in early US trading. The government raised remote gaming duty from 21% to 40% and online sports betting duty from 15% to 25% in the 2025 autumn budget, while a proposed rise in machine games duty is also under discussion.