100 Shops, 400 Jobs at Risk as Paddy Power Initiates Review

Irish gaming company Paddy Power seems to be reviewing its shop portfolio. As it turns out, the review could cause the company to close up to 100 shops, which would impact as many as 400 jobs. Paddy Power to Shave Off 20% of Its Shops Paddy Power seems to be considering scaling down its retail presence in Great Britain and Ireland amid unfavorable business conditions. The company said that it is currently reviewing its shops in the two countries, while planning to close up to 100 of them. If the Flutter-owned business ends up closing 100 shops, as planned, this could impact as many as 400 jobs. While these positions are at risk of redundancy, spokespeople said that Paddy Power will offer redeployment where possible. Paddy Power representatives emphasized that their company is very pleased with its high street presence. However, they also acknowledged the challenging economic conditions, which prompted the “difficult decision” to review the company’s shop portfolio. The Move Was Prompted by Economic Difficulties and Taxes To put things into perspective, closing 100 shops would slash Paddy Power‘s UK&I presence by roughly 20%. For reference, the company currently operates a total of 506 shops across the two countries. While Paddy Power did not confirm whether the shop closures would be mostly in the UK, the company did imply that the review was caused by, among other things, increased gambling taxes. For context, the UK’s Autumn Budget introduced controversial tax hikes, despite the gaming industry’s strong opposition. As a result of this, the iGaming tax increased from 21% to 40%, while the sports betting duty rose from 15% to 25% Paddy Power’s mulled decision to close shops is by no means unique and follows a broader pattern in the UK. Betfred previously confirmed that it is closing some 132 shops across the UK, impacting up to 600 people. In Paddy Power’s case, the review was also prompted by high energy costs, business headwinds, economic uncertainty, rising competition, and expensive rents. Paddy Power Reduced Its Shop Count in 2023 In 2023, Paddy Power announced the shutdown of 21 more retail locations across Ireland. However, these closures were due to the fact that the company determined that the shops in question were not performing well enough. Just like now, Paddy Power vowed to support those affected by the changes and redeploy as many workers as realistically feasible. The company also emphasized that the closures were in no way related to the work of Paddy Power employees there.