Entain Prepares to Cut 400 Customer-Care Jobs as Tax Pressure Builds
Entain, the owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, has started a consultation process that could remove 400 jobs from its 2,000-strong customer-care operation. The company announced the plan on 16 September 2026, according to The Guardian. The cut equals one in five roles. The affected 2,000 roles are based across the UK, according to SBC News.
Entain attributed the planned cuts to efforts to address the impact of increased gambling taxes, according to Reuters. Chief executive Stella David wrote to Andy Burnham arguing that doubling standard machine games duty from 20% to 40% would add about £100m to the cost of running Entain's UK retail business. The letter puts a specific figure on retail exposure at a moment when tax policy remains in flux.
The proposal follows a half-year report of underlying operating profit of £479m for the six months to the end of June. That result was 2% below the same period in the prior year but ahead of investor expectations. The timing is tight. A profit beat has not insulated the support function from restructuring.
Market pressure is visible elsewhere. Entain shares were down about 36% year-to-date as of 16 September 2026. The company will be demoted from the FTSE 100 to the FTSE 250 index from 21 September. Entain is headquartered in London and employs more than 28,000 people worldwide. It started as GVC Holdings in 2004.
Entain says it operates exclusively in regulated and regulating online and retail markets, according to company materials. The group appointed Dafne Guisard as Chief Operations Officer, with responsibility for global strategic planning, the customer service organisation, and M&A integration. In May, Entain urged the Football Regulator to stop clubs from taking sponsorship from illegal gambling operators.
The broader context here is a business trying to reconcile two narratives. One is operational resilience, signalled by earnings ahead of expectations. The other is structural cost sensitivity, signalled by a one-in-five reduction in customer care and explicit quantification of a potential £100m retail hit from machine duty. For specialists, the choice of where to cut matters. Customer care is a variable cost centre tied to volumes, complaints handling, safer-gambling interactions and integration work, all areas Guisard oversees. Reducing headcount there preserves shopfronts and tech investment in the near term while testing service capacity.
Looking at what this means for policymakers and investors, the letter to Burnham frames retail economics as highly leveraged to duty rates. A doubling of standard machine games duty would fall directly on the highest-fixed-cost part of the business. Whether investors read the consultation as prudent contingency planning or as confirmation of margin vulnerability will depend on what, if anything, changes in tax policy, and on how Entain manages service levels with a smaller support base through the FTSE transition and into the second half.
