Ministers have been warned of the real-life consequences of raising taxes as they reportedly ponder issuing the industry with further bleak news in next week’s budget.
The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) issued a fierce response after up to 1,400 redundancies were confirmed to be expected across Flutter’s UK & Ireland business as it undergoes restructuring, as announced today by the gambling group, in response to the increase in UK remote gaming duty in April earlier this year.
BGC: ‘Another devastating blow’
Grainne Hurst, Chief Executive Officer of the BGC, described Flutter’s announcement as ‘another devastating blow to workers and families across our sector, and further evidence of the real-world consequences of the Government’s tax rises’.
Hurst stated: “These are not just numbers. They are people facing uncertainty over their livelihoods as major British employers are forced to make painful decisions in response to mounting tax pressures.
“The warnings could not be clearer. Businesses are already cutting jobs, closing betting shops and scaling back investment.
“Further tax rises will only accelerate that damage, putting thousands more jobs at risk, threatening high streets and handing an advantage to the unsafe, unregulated illegal gambling market.
“Ministers must recognise the damage already being done to the regulated sector and think again before imposing further tax rises that will cost more jobs and livelihoods.”
Flutter UK&I restructuring
Locations expected to be impacted by the Flutter UK&I cuts include Leeds, UK; Dublin, Ireland; Porto, Portugal; and Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The restructuring is expected to preserve investment in customer proposition and support market share goals, but will come with an associated cost of $80m-$90m, to be incurred in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Globally, Flutter employs 28,500 people, with 9,000 part of its UK & Ireland business. The restructuring is also the first major decision made by Dan Taylor since replacing Peter Jackson as Chief Executive Officer of Flutter Entertainment at the start of October.
Kevin Harrington, CEO of Flutter UK & Ireland, commented: “My immediate focus is providing the necessary support for all of our impacted colleagues and guiding our teams through what we know is going to be a difficult and challenging period for all concerned.
“The material increase in betting and gaming duties announced in the UK Budget last year has fundamentally changed the economic model of the regulated betting and gaming industry in the UK while helping to fuel the unlicensed, unregulated market.
“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. We remain confident that we are well placed to benefit from share gains given our position as the largest-scale operator in the UK.”
