Flutter’s Paddy Power to close up to 100 UK and Ireland betting shops
The latest wave of Paddy Power closures represents one fifth of the betting operator’s retail estate.
UK.- The Flutter Entertainment-owned betting brand Paddy Power is set to close up to 100 betting shops across the UK and Ireland by the end of the year. The latest wave of closures follows the decision to close 57 Paddy Power betting shops in October 2025.
The latest planned closures would account for roughly one fifth of the operator’s current retail estate. Paddy Power currently runs 506 betting shops across the UK and Ireland: 310 in Britain and Northern Ireland employing 1,374 staff and 196 in the Republic of Ireland employing 935 people.
According to the Irish Examiner, the latest decision places around 400 jobs at risk across the UK and Ireland. Flutter Entertainment, whose Sky Bet, Betfair and PokerStars and Tombola are also active in the UK and Irish markets, said affected employees would be offered redeployment opportunities wherever possible and pledged to support staff throughout the consultation process.
“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,” a 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.”
Wider UK and Ireland betting shop closures
Paddy Power is not alone in cutting its retail footprint. At the end of July, Betfred announced 132 betting shop closures, citing higher online taxation and economic uncertainty as key reasons. Evoke announced 270 William Hill betting shop closures in March following a strategic review and Entain announced in April that it would close a third of its Ladbrokes betting shops in Ireland.
Flutter said its latest review reflects a combination of factors weighing on retail betting operations, including rising energy costs, rents and business rates, alongside the impact of increased Remote Gaming Tax in the UK from April. The last wave of closures in November last year comprised 27 betting shops in Britain, 28 in Ireland and one in Northern Ireland. At the time, Flutter said higher gambling taxes would reduce its underlying earnings by €465m across 2026 and 2027.
Flutter has shifted its focus across the Atlantic in recent years, moving its stock listings from London and Dublin to New York amid the growth of its US market-leading sports betting brand FanDuel.
It reported full-year revenue of $16.4bn (€13.9bn) for 2025, a rise of 17 per cent year-on-year. However, net income swung from a $162m profit in 2024 to a $407m loss, representing a decline of 351 per cent. The group lowered its full-year 2026 financial guidance in its Q2 earnings report released last month, largely due to increased promotional spending in the US. It cut its expected revenue midpoint by $395m to $17.91bn and adjusted EBITDA by $210m to $2.65bn.
Last month, Flutter appointed current international division chief Dan Taylor as its next chief executive. Taking up the role on October 1, Taylor will succeed Peter Jackson, who has led the business for more than a decade. He was previously promoted to president in May as part of a management reshuffle aimed at improving performance in the group’s US operations.
