Paddy Power Could Close 100 More Betting Shops In Fresh Industry Blow

Paddy Power's parent company, Flutter Entertainment, has been forced to cut costs in the wake of the Gambling Tax hike and poor performance, which saw the firm post a loss of £219 million in the second quarter of 2026.

This could mean that around 20% of Paddy Power’s retail empire is permanently shuttered… having already closed 57 shops this year.

High Street Horror

Trading conditions on the UK high street have long been challenging, with punters turning to betting apps in their droves to go with the falling footfall in towns and cities.

Many betting shops are now barely scraping a profit, but are kept open as a sort of ‘loss leader’ for brand recognition purposes.

However, that trend is now likely to change in the wake of the Gambling Tax hikes initiated last year, which will see operators pay nearly double the duty on online casino revenues and 10% more on remote sports bets.

Although betting shops in themselves haven’t been taxed any higher, gambling firms have been forced to make tough decisions in a bid to mitigate the tax grab – closing their retail properties is, given their performance levels, one of the easiest ways for them to cut costs.

Human Cost

Paddy Power announced late last year that they were closing 57 shops, and they have since been followed by William Hill (around 270 closures) and Betfred (132) this year. Since June 2020, approximately 1,700 UK betting shops have been shut for good.

There’s a human cost to these stories, with around 400 set to be made redundant by Flutter if they can’t be redeployed elsewhere within the business. A spokesperson for the firm said: “Unfortunately, we have had to take the extremely difficult decision to conduct this review.

It’s expected that the government will once again target the sector in their Autumn Budget, with betting shops – described by the Prime Minister as ‘dodgy businesses’ – likely to be one of the biggest losers.

The former PM, Gordon Brown, has suggested that more tax should be paid on gaming machines within betting shops… an idea that many believe John Healey, the Chancellor, will pursue.

And that will likely see hundreds more shops closed in mitigation.

Racing Away

As betting shops close, it’s the people that staff them – and the local communities they serve – that suffer the biggest loss.

But make no mistake, the sport of horse racing is set to lose out significantly if the current decline in betting shop numbers continues.

From all bets placed, operators pay a percentage of their gross profits into the sport via the Horserace Betting Levy. It’s estimated that racing benefits to the tune of around £100 million a year in this way.

And then there’s the sale of media rights to the bookmakers, which enables them to stream races in their shops on the big TV screens. That works out at around £75,000 per shop per year… if you have hundreds of shops in your empire, the cost adds up considerably.

Loss of Income

So, if the number of betting shops continues to decline as they are, horse racing is going to lose out on a mammoth amount of income each year.

And Martin Cruddace, the chief executive of the Arena Racing Company, which operates 16 racecourses across the UK, warned of the ‘grave’ consequences of additional tax increases in the next Autumn Budget.