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Flutter Entertainment is reviewing up to 100 Paddy Power betting shops across the UK and Ireland, putting around 400 jobs at risk as higher gambling taxes and weaker retail economics hit the sector.
The review covers almost one fifth of the 506 shop Paddy Power estate and follows 57 closures announced in October.
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Flutter has not said how many shops could close in each country, but any full 100 shop reduction would cut the Paddy Power retail network by close to 20%.
The company employs more than 2,300 people across the estate. Staff consultation will now begin, with redeployment offered where possible.
A Flutter UK and Ireland spokesperson said:
“We are incredibly proud of our high street estate, and it remains a key part of our business in communities across the UK and Ireland. Unfortunately, we have had to take the extremely difficult decision to conduct this review.”
Retail betting has been dealing with rising wages, rent, energy costs, stronger online competition and changing customer habits for years. Flutter now also has to absorb a much larger online gaming tax bill.
Remote Gaming Duty rose from 21% to 40% from April 2026. A new 25% Remote Betting Rate will also apply from April 2027 to most online sports betting, although UK horse racing will remain at 15%.
Flutter estimates the 2025 Budget tax changes will reduce adjusted EBITDA by about $320 million in 2026 before mitigation. The company expects around $85 million of direct mitigation during the year, leaving an estimated $235 million net impact before other benefits.
The spokesperson said:
“The high street trading environment has been challenging for a number of years given rising costs, fierce competition, economic uncertainty and the shift to online, but we also face a material impact from the higher gambling taxes announced in last year’s UK Budget.
“Our immediate priority at this time is to support those colleagues affected by this announcement.”
Paddy Power is far from alone.
Betfred recently announced plans to close 132 shops, while evoke has closed around 270 William Hill locations. Entain has also reduced its Ladbrokes and Coral estate.
Racing Post reported that around 560 UK betting shops had already closed since the Budget before the latest Paddy Power review.
The pattern shows how operators are reassessing retail locations shop by shop rather than abandoning high street betting altogether. Stores with weaker margins face more pressure as labour, media rights and property costs remain largely fixed.
Goodbody analyst David Brohan told Racing Post:
“I suspect it won’t be the last of the closures as different leases expire and particularly if MGD increases in the budget.
“It might put some pressure on the media rights distributors to lower costs to make the economics of shops more attractive.”
Flutter has already started cutting costs elsewhere at Paddy Power, including a restructuring of the marketing department earlier in 2026.
At group level, UK and Ireland revenue still increased 4% year on year to $971 million in Q2. However, Flutter recorded a $296 million quarterly net loss compared with a $37 million profit one year earlier.
Peter Jackson is also preparing to leave the CEO role, with Dan Taylor due to succeed him.
Jackson previously said Flutter has “a very sustainable and clear plan to mitigate the tax changes” and expects larger operators to take market share as smaller rivals struggle with the higher tax burden.