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Flutter Entertainment is restructuring its marketing operation at Paddy Power, with employees across the brand’s retail, brand strategy and content marketing teams told that redundancies are possible. The move follows the UK government’s confirmation that Remote Gaming Duty will double from 21% to 40% on 1 April 2026.
What Flutter Has Confirmed
The restructure was communicated to staff via an internal email from Michelle Spillane, Managing Director of Paddy Power Online, seen by SBC News. A Flutter UK&I spokesperson confirmed the review is a direct response to the Budget announcement.
“We can confirm that Paddy Power is reviewing the structure of its marketing operation in light of the changes announced in the Budget. These changes will unfortunately place a small number of colleagues at risk of redundancy. We will be working closely with those impacted through this process.”
The email confirmed that all employees across the affected teams have been formally notified. The number of roles at risk has not been disclosed.
The Tax Driver
Remote Gaming Duty doubles to 40% on 1 April 2026. Sports betting duty rises to 25% on the same date. Both changes were confirmed in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ November budget and have been driving operator responses across the UK market ever since.
Flutter had signalled this outcome early. Alongside Entain and Evoke, the company indicated shortly after the November budget that marketing budgets would face cuts. A figure of around 20% was widely cited by industry sources at the time. The Paddy Power announcement is the first concrete evidence of those cuts taking structural form at the brand level.
The scale of the wider industry response to the duty changes has been significant. Gibraltar-based operators have faced their own version of the same pressure, assessing whether their current structures remain commercially viable once the new rates take effect. Evoke, which owns William Hill, has faced more acute pressure still. The group opened discussions about a potential sale of the business following the tax overhaul announcement, signalling the depth of concern across the sector about profitability under the new regime.
Flutter’s Broader UK Restructuring
The Paddy Power review is one element of a wider reorganisation Flutter has been executing across its UK and Ireland business. The Flutter UK&I division was created to consolidate operations across Paddy Power, Betfair, Sky Bet, Tombola and PokerStars under a single structure.
In June last year, Flutter confirmed it was relocating Sky Bet’s headquarters to Malta. The company attributed the move to strategic and commercial reasons. Flutter retains operational hubs in Dublin, London and Leeds.
Despite reducing its marketing footprint, the company is not stepping back from the UK market entirely. Paddy Power opened a sportsbook at the London Hippodrome last year, a new format the company describes as experimental. Its horse racing presence remains active. Flutter is working with the British Horseracing Authority on the Project Beacon initiative, which recently produced the ‘Future of Racing’ summit series, focused on broadening the sport’s audience base.
“Over the last decade, racing has not always been the first-choice sport for the younger generation,” said Seb Butterworth, Strategic Racing Director at Flutter UKI.
The redundancy process, if it moves forward, will affect a brand that has historically treated its marketing as a competitive asset in its own right. Paddy Power’s campaigns have consistently attracted attention well beyond the betting sector. Whether the structural review changes how the brand operates in market, or primarily reduces headcount while maintaining its output, will become clearer as the April deadline approaches. For now, the direction of travel across Flutter’s UK portfolio is consistent: smaller, leaner, with fewer people carrying the weight of a higher tax bill.
Source: SBC News
