Flutter plans up to 1,400 job cuts in UK and Ireland after tax increase
The restructuring carries $80 million to $90 million in pre-tax charges, mostly cash costs, and is expected to be substantially complete by the end of 2026.
Key takeaways
- Flutter Entertainment plc (FLUT) said in a filing on Oct. 20 it committed to restructuring its UK and Ireland business, affecting up to 1,400 employees. The plan responds to UK gaming tax increases. The company expects pre-tax charges of $80 million to $90 million, primarily cash costs for severance and benefits, in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Flutter Entertainment plc (NYSE: FLUT) committed to restructuring its UK and Ireland business, which could cut up to 1,400 jobs, a regulatory filing showed Tuesday.
The plan is designed to mitigate the impact of higher UK gaming taxes, the company said in the filing. It is in line with the UK gaming tax mitigation plans Flutter previously announced.
The company began notifying affected employees on Oct. 20. The actions remain subject to consultation and legal and employee notice requirements.
The affected roles are in Leeds and Dublin, and among UK and Ireland staff at Flutter hubs in Porto, Portugal and Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Flutter employs 28,500 people globally, including 9,000 in its UK and Ireland business.
The tax increases come in two steps. iGaming duty rose 19 percentage points to 40% from April 2026. Sports betting, excluding horseracing, rises 10 percentage points to 25% from April 2027.
The company said the tax change will reduce adjusted EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, by $540 million in 2027. It expects to offset that with $201 million of first-order mitigation.
Flutter UK & Ireland Chief Executive Kevin Harrington said: “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.”
The company estimates aggregate pre-tax charges of $80 million to $90 million, consisting primarily of cash costs for employee severance, benefits and related costs. It also expects non-cash stock-based compensation charges, which it said cannot be reasonably estimated.
Those costs were included in the updated guidance from its Q2 2026 earnings update, which raised guidance for restructuring, transaction and integration costs to $500 million.
The charges are expected in the fourth quarter of 2026. The company expects to substantially complete the plan by the end of 2026.
The company said actual results may differ materially from its estimates and that it may incur additional costs tied to the plan.