Paddy Power cuts 1,400 jobs and blames betting tax rises

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1. 1

   Paddy Power cuts 1,400 jobs and blames betting tax rises

   BBC NewsPublished Oct 20, 2026Checked Oct 20, 2026

   “Paddy Power-owner Flutter has announced plans to cut up to 1,400 jobs as its boss claimed the company "cannot fully absorb" tax rises imposed on the gambling industry. Staff based in Leeds and Dublin, as well as workers for its UK and Ireland business at Flutter's Portugal and Romania sites, will be most affected, but what roles are at risk has not been disclosed. The government announced taxes rises on online casino and sports betting, with an exemption for horse racing, in the Budget last year. Flutter boss Kevin Harrington said the tax hikes had "fundamentally changed" the economic model of the UK betting and gaming industry, arguing it had helped "fuel the unlicensed, unregulated market". "We continue to expect these tax increases to have a very significant impact on the overall market," Flutter Entertainment said on Tuesday. Flutter, which also owns Sky Bet and Betfair, employs 28,500 people across the world, including 9,000 in the UK and Ireland. As well as its Leeds and Dublin offices, the BBC understands the cuts could also affect staff based in London and Sunderland, as well as Malta and Gibraltar.”

2. 2

   Gambling in the United Kingdom (Wikipedia)

   WikipediaChecked Oct 20, 2026

   “Gambling in the United Kingdom is regulated by the Gambling Commission on behalf of the government's Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) under the Gambling Act 2005. This Act of Parliament significantly updated the UK's gambling laws, including the introduction of a new structure of protections for children and vulnerable adults, as well as bringing the burgeoning Internet gaming sector within British islands for the first time. Gambling for centuries has been a main recreational activity in Great Britain. Horse racing has been a favourite theme for over three centuries. It has been heavily regulated. Historically much of the opposition comes from evangelical Protestants, and from social reformers. On 8 December 2020, Nigel Huddleston MP announced a call for evidence to begin the Gambling Act Review. In July 2026, UK ministers began a crackdown on unlicensed casinos sponsoring sports teams. Liberal Democrat politicians called for a complete ban on sports betting and online casinos sponsorships in high-level UK sports competitions such as the English Premier League.”

3. 3

   From Policy to Politics: Is there a Nordic Model for the regulation of alcohol and gambling?

   Nordisk alkohol- & narkotikatidskrift : NAT (Marionneau et al.)Published Jul 1, 2025Checked Oct 20, 2026

   “Control policies in the region take place on a spectrum from more restrictive to more market-oriented. Overall, alcohol policy is more restrictive than gambling policy. In comparison with gambling policy, alcohol policy was characterised by a stricter public health framing and consistent implementation based on the best buys. In terms of policy outcomes, more stringent alcohol regulations translated, to some extent, to lower consumption and prevalence, but not systematically. Recent policy developments suggest that alcohol policy may be heading towards increased de-regulation, whereas gambling policies are becoming stricter. The Nordic model continues to be visible particularly in alcohol control. However, the model is challenged by politics. To persist, the Nordic model needs political will and increased cross-country and cross-sectoral collaboration.”

4. 4

   Strengthening channeling policy: the Finnish approach to protecting domestic online gambling market.

   Frontiers in sociology (Järvinen-Tassopoulos et al.)Published Jan 11, 2024Checked Oct 20, 2026

   “Many jurisdictions struggle to curb offshore gambling as established approaches to gambling regulation no longer apply to online gambling. This study aimed to examine the arguments used by Finnish stakeholders who discussed channeling as a tool to curb offshore gambling and the monopolistic gambling regime as a sustainable framework to tackle the issue of offshore gambling. In total, 18 Finnish public servants employed in ministries in charge of gambling matters and representatives of Veikkaus, the state-owned gambling company, were interviewed for the purpose of this study. Channeling was described by the interviewees as an important policy tool but without a regulatory framework to block offshore operation, it would remain an ideal type of political strategy. Beside the monopolistic gambling regime, the pros and cons of a potential licensing regime were discussed. This study showed that legislative and regulatory changes form a lengthy political process; the decrease of the market share of online gambling marked the beginning of a new era in Finland's gambling policy.”