Flutter Entertainment is reviewing the future of up to 100 Paddy Power betting shops across the UK and Ireland, which puts around 400 jobs at risk. That’s roughly a fifth of Paddy Power’s remaining retail estate, though Flutter hasn’t confirmed which shops are closing or how many redundancies there will actually be.
Paddy Power currently runs 506 betting shops across the two markets, 310 of them in Britain and Northern Ireland and 196 in the Republic of Ireland. More than 2,300 people work across that network, with 935 in Ireland and another 1,374 in Britain and Northern Ireland.
Rising operating costs, stronger competition, economic uncertainty, and the ongoing shift toward online gambling are what Flutter is blaming for the review. The company also pointed at higher UK gambling taxes, saying the changes announced in last year’s Budget are having a material effect on the business. Anyone affected by closures will be offered redeployment elsewhere where that’s possible.
The UK government raised Remote Gaming Duty from 21% to 40% on April 1, covering profits from online casino games like slots. Remote sports betting gets its own increase in April 2027, going from 15% to 25%, although online bets on UK horse racing stay at 15% because operators also pay the statutory Horserace Betting Levy. Retail betting inside licensed premises falls outside the new remote rate entirely.
Flutter has previously estimated that the higher Remote Gaming Duty would cut around $320 million from its 2026 earnings before mitigation, with roughly $85 million of that expected to come back through cost reductions and other changes. Goodbody analyst David Brohan told the Racing Post that this shop review is likely part of those mitigation efforts, and warned that more closures could follow as leases run out.
Paddy Power already cut its retail network substantially last year, closing 57 shops across the UK and Ireland after a previous review. That October 2025 decision covered 28 shops in Britain, one in Northern Ireland, and 28 in the Republic, putting 247 jobs at risk. Flutter said then that rising costs and difficult market conditions had made those locations uneconomic, while warning that higher gambling taxes could bring further reductions in investment and employment.
Betfred and William Hill owner evoke have announced major cuts to their own UK retail estates during 2026. Betfred cited taxation and economic uncertainty when it outlined closure plans in July, while evoke is closing around 270 William Hill shops following its own post-Budget review. The Paddy Power review would add another sizeable batch to a betting-shop sector that has been shrinking for years.
Flutter’s UK and Ireland business brought in $971 million during the second quarter of 2026, a 4% year-over-year increase, even with higher gaming taxes eating into profitability. Group revenue rose 3% to $4.33 billion over the same period, but adjusted EBITDA dropped 45% to $508 million and Flutter posted a $296 million net loss against a $37 million profit a year earlier. The group put that down to several things, including UK gaming taxes, increased US investment, and one-off historical tax costs.
Flutter says Paddy Power’s physical shops remain an important part of its UK and Ireland business regardless of the review. No final list of locations has been published, and the company is consulting employees before deciding which ones go. If all 100 do eventually close, Paddy Power’s retail estate will have shrunk by more than a quarter in under a year once the 57 closures from October 2025 are counted.