Flutter, the parent company of Paddy Power, Sky Bet, and Betfair, has announced plans to eliminate up to 1,400 positions. The gambling giant, which maintains a global workforce of 28,500 with approximately 9,000 employees based in the UK and Ireland, indicated that the restructuring will affect staff in the UK, Ireland, Portugal, and Romania. While the company has confirmed the scale of the layoffs, specific roles currently at risk remain undisclosed. Flutter, which also owns Sky Bet and Betfair, employs 28,500 people across the world, including 9,000 in the UK and Ireland. As well as British and Irish workers at Flutter’s sites in Portugal and Romania will be affected, but what roles are at risk has not been disclosed, staff based in the UK and Ireland.
Kevin Harrington, chief executive of the firm’s UK and Ireland business, stated that the company “cannot fully absorb” the tax increases implemented by the government during last November’s Budget. These measures raised levies on online casino and sports betting, though horse racing was granted an exemption. Harrington argued that the policy has “fundamentally changed” the economic framework of the industry, further contending that the tax hike has inadvertently helped “fuel the unlicensed, unregulated market.”
On Tuesday, the company reaffirmed its stance, noting that it expects these tax adjustments to continue to exert a “very significant impact on the overall market.” Regarding the necessary changes, Harrington added: “As we warned a year ago, we cannot fully absorb a rise of this magnitude without reducing our fixed cost base and therefore must restructure our business so that we can best position ourselves for the future.”
This announcement follows a period of corporate transition for the betting firm. In August, the company officially delisted from the London Stock Exchange, moving to have its shares traded exclusively in New York.
