Entain Plans 400 Job Cuts After £479m Profit Update

Published: 16 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online

Entain, the owner of Ladbrokes, Coral and BetMGM, is preparing to cut around 400 customer-care jobs in the UK, just weeks after the gambling group reported stronger-than-expected financial performance for the first half of 2026.

The company has begun a consultation process that could affect roughly one in five of its 2,000 customer-care positions. The proposed reductions come as Entain faces higher operating costs in the UK and further uncertainty over the future taxation of gambling businesses.

Entain said the proposed changes were intended to keep the business competitive and financially resilient as the sector faces what it described as an increasingly difficult operating environment. Chief executive Stella David said the company understood the potential impact on employees and that supporting affected staff was an immediate priority.

The planned job reductions have drawn attention because they follow the publication of Entain’s first-half results, which showed the company continuing to generate substantial earnings despite pressures from higher UK gambling taxes.

For the six months ending 30 June 2026, Entain reported underlying EBITDA of £479m, down 2% from £489m in the same period a year earlier but ahead of market expectations. The company said the performance reflected stronger-than-expected revenue, although the benefit was partly offset by the impact of increased UK online gambling taxation.

Entain’s reported revenue for continuing operations reached £2.51bn in the first half, compared with £2.34bn a year earlier. Underlying operating profit was £318.9m, down from £352.4m, while the company reported a loss after tax of £11.4m for continuing operations.

The figures illustrate the distinction between the company’s underlying earnings and its statutory bottom line. While underlying EBITDA remained close to half a billion pounds, Entain’s reported loss after tax reflected other financial items, including separately disclosed costs, financing charges, foreign-exchange movements and taxation.

The company nevertheless declared an interim dividend of 10.3p per share, an increase of 5% compared with the corresponding payment in 2025. Entain said it expected the dividend, worth approximately £65.9m in total, to be paid in September.

The proposed job cuts are concentrated in customer-care operations. Entain has previously said its global Customer Protection team includes hundreds of employees responsible for communicating with customers where concerns or potential problems have been identified. Its wider customer-care operation is larger, reflecting the scale of its international business.

The company operates across numerous markets and owns a portfolio of betting and gaming brands, including Ladbrokes and Coral in the UK and its 50% interest in BetMGM, its US-focused joint venture with MGM Resorts.

Entain’s management has been pursuing a broader restructuring strategy alongside efforts to improve financial performance. In its August results announcement, the company said it was pursuing a phased exit from its central and eastern European business, Entain CEE, with an initial 20% divestment agreed for €425m. The transaction implied a total enterprise value of approximately €2.1bn for the business.

The company said proceeds from a full exit from Entain CEE would be used partly to reduce leverage, with excess capital potentially returned to shareholders.

At the same time, the UK operation is facing a changing tax environment.

The government has already increased the Remote Gaming Duty rate from 21% to 40% from 1 April 2026. The change applies to profits from remote gaming and forms part of a wider package of gambling-duty reforms announced at the 2025 Budget.

A further change is scheduled for April 2027, when a new 25% rate of General Betting Duty will apply to most remote betting. Remote betting on UK horseracing and bets made through self-service betting terminals at licensed premises are excluded from that new rate and will remain subject to the existing 15% rate under the government’s legislation.

The government has said the gambling-duty changes are intended to raise more than £1bn a year for public finances while creating what it describes as a fairer and more sustainable tax system.

Entain has argued that taxation is creating additional pressure on its UK business. The company has also warned about the possible effect of any further increase in Machine Games Duty, which applies to certain gaming machines in betting shops and other licensed premises.

Current HM Revenue & Customs rules set Machine Games Duty at 20% for standard machines with a cost to play between 21p and £5, while the higher rate for machines with a cost to play above £5 is 25%.

The possibility of further changes has become an important issue for businesses with significant retail operations. Entain chief executive Stella David has argued that a substantial increase in the standard machine-duty rate could raise costs across the company’s betting-shop estate.

According to the figures cited in the original report, Entain estimates that doubling the standard rate from 20% to 40% could add around £100m to the cost of operating its UK retail business. The company has also argued that such an increase could result in significant numbers of betting-shop closures and associated job losses.

Those figures are company estimates rather than established outcomes. The eventual effect would depend on any tax measures adopted by the government, how businesses responded and how consumers’ behaviour changed.

The broader debate has also focused on the distribution of gambling premises across the UK. Research cited by campaigners and policymakers has raised concerns about the concentration of some forms of gambling activity in economically disadvantaged communities.

For Entain, the combination of taxation, changing consumer behaviour and cost pressures comes alongside a strategy designed to improve efficiency and concentrate investment on areas where management sees stronger growth potential.

Its first-half results showed that online net gaming revenue increased by 7% on a constant-currency basis, while UK and Ireland net gaming revenue increased by 8%. UK and Ireland online revenue rose by 13%, according to the company’s results. Retail revenue also performed comparatively strongly, although its growth was more modest.

Entain said its overall online performance had exceeded expectations and reiterated its forecast for 5% to 7% growth in online net gaming revenue during 2026 on a constant-currency basis.

The company is also targeting underlying EBITDA, excluding parent fees, within a range of £910m to £960m for the full year.

The contrast between these financial targets and the proposed job reductions highlights the pressures facing large companies even when revenue and underlying earnings remain substantial. Businesses can cut costs, reorganise operations and invest in new technology at the same time as reporting profits or positive underlying earnings.

For employees affected by the consultation, however, the immediate issue is the possibility of losing their jobs. Entain has not yet completed the consultation process, meaning the final number of positions removed could differ from the initial proposal.

The company has said the decision was not taken lightly and that it would support colleagues affected by the changes.

Entain’s restructuring also reflects wider changes within the company. Its history shows a business that has evolved from its origins as GVC Holdings into a multinational gambling group with operations and brands across numerous markets. The company has been led by Stella David since she became its permanent chief executive in 2025.

Its financial position remains closely watched by investors. Entain said its net debt stood at £3.599bn at the end of June, with reported leverage at 3.1 times underlying EBITDA. The company also reported approximately £900m of available cash.

The company’s shares have also experienced a difficult year. The original report noted that the stock had fallen by about 36% since the start of 2026, while the London Stock Exchange continues to list Entain under the ticker ENT.

Entain is due to move from the FTSE 100 into the FTSE 250 index from 21 September, reflecting the company’s current market valuation rather than a change in its underlying corporate structure.

The planned customer-care job cuts therefore come at a complicated point for the company. Entain is reporting growth in several parts of its business and maintaining its full-year financial guidance, while simultaneously seeking to reduce costs and adapt to higher taxation and regulatory pressures in the UK.

The consultation will determine how many employees are ultimately affected. Beyond the immediate employment consequences, the decision provides another indication of how major UK gambling companies are responding to a changing tax and regulatory environment.

For policymakers, the competing considerations include public revenue, employment, the viability of high-street businesses and the wider social effects associated with gambling. For Entain, the immediate challenge is to manage those pressures while maintaining the financial performance expected by investors.

The proposed 400 job reductions are therefore not simply an isolated workforce decision. They form part of a wider restructuring of one of Britain’s largest gambling groups as it responds to higher taxes, changing regulation, shifting consumer behaviour and the company’s own efforts to reshape its international portfolio.