Tombola jobs at risk in Sunderland as Flutter plans up to 1,400 cuts

Jobs are at risk at Sunderland-based online gaming company Tombola after its owner, Flutter Entertainment, announced plans to cut up to 1,400 roles across its UK and Ireland business.

Fewer than 100 Tombola employees in Sunderland are affected, including office-based and remote staff, Chronicle Live reports. Flutter has not disclosed a separate redundancy figure for the company.

The restructuring, announced on 20 October, is subject to employee consultation. Flutter employs around 9,000 people in its UK and Ireland division. The proposals also affect employees in Leeds and Dublin, as well as staff at company hubs in Portugal and Romania.

Flutter says the decision follows increases in gambling duties announced in the November 2025 Budget.

Flutter UK and Ireland chief executive Kevin Harrington says the increases have “fundamentally changed the economic model” of the regulated betting and gaming industry in the UK.

“As we warned a year ago, we cannot fully absorb a rise of this magnitude without reducing our fixed cost base and therefore must restructure our business so that we can best position ourselves for the future,” he says.

Remote gaming duty increased from 21 per cent to 40 per cent on 1 April 2026. The tax applies to online bingo, the product Tombola is best known for, as well as other forms of online gaming. Bingo duty, paid by bingo halls, was abolished on the same date. A separate increase in duty on most online betting, from 15 per cent to 25 per cent, takes effect in April 2027.

Tombola was founded in Sunderland by Phil Cronin and grew into one of the UK's leading online bingo operators. Flutter acquired the company in January 2022 in a deal initially valued at £402m. At the time of the acquisition, more than 80 per cent of Tombola's revenue came from the UK.

Flutter expects the restructuring to cost $80m to $90m, with the costs incurred in the final quarter of 2026. The company expects to substantially complete the programme by the end of the year, subject to legal and employee consultation requirements.