The closures, including branches in Oxfordshire, are part of the parent company Whitbread’s major restructuring plan, and will see all 106 sites shut permanently.

It was announced in April that the company would shut its remaining Beefeater and Brewers Fayre sites as part of a strategy overhaul, placing around 3,800 jobs at risk.

READ MORE: More than 100 restaurants to shut across the UK

There are Beefeaters in Cowley and Kidlington.

Now the chain has reached out to its loyal customers.

Dishes are served at Beefeater (Image: Jamie Lau)

In an email being distributed to previous diners and members of its loyalty schemes, Beefeater shared a message of gratitude, with two prominent words: ‘thank you’.

It said: “A message from your local Beefeater: We want to say a huge thank you for your custom at our Beefeater restaurants.”

It added: “As you may have seen, we have recently announced changes to our business, which is resulting in the closure of our Branded Restaurants.

“This means that on Thursday, September 10, 2026, your local Beefeater and all other UK Beefeaters will close.”

Inside Beefeater (Image: Christie Owen & Davies)

In the letter, the company also said it would close the loyalty scheme on August 31.

The restructure is part of Whitbread’s new five-year strategy, which aims to reduce costs by £250m.

The chain first launched in 1974.

The former Ock Mill Beefeater restaurant in Abingdon (Image: Andy Ffrench)

Several customers said they were “sad” to see the chain shutting sites, although they also felt the brand had gone downhill in more recent years.

One person wrote: “Until I went to university the only restaurant I’d ever been to was a Beefeater. We’d go for various family birthdays. I absolutely loved it.

“A steak or a mixed grill, which I never got at home, followed by a Knickerbocker Glory. Fantastic times. I went back a couple of years ago.

“The place looked run down. I feel sad about this, but I guess the fact I hadn’t been to one for 30 years is part of the problem.”

The Ock Mill Beefeater restaurant, linked to the former Premier Inn in Marcham Road, Abingdon, closed in 2023, and the site was bought by the Unicorn School, which is currently renovating the building for classrooms.

Dominic Paul, Whitbread’s chief executive, said earlier: “We always challenge ourselves to improve and, in light of significant cost increases in the form of business rates and national insurance, as well as the implied market discount to our inherent value, we’ve looked hard at the options open to us to maximise value creation over the medium and long-term.

“This has been a rigorous process, and we’ve approached all options with an open mind.

“Our new five-year plan builds on our strengths and drives a significant acceleration of our strategy.”

JOSEPH GABRIEL LAGONSIN

News Editor

Sapia.ai has launched Tia, an AI assistant for hiring teams. It is aimed at organisations that want to use existing candidate interview data to inform recruitment decisions.

Tia allows recruiters and hiring managers to ask questions in everyday language and receive answers based on previous AI interviews conducted through the Sapia.ai platform. The responses draw on structured interview evidence rather than CVs and include the reasoning behind each recommendation, while the final hiring decision remains with a person.

The launch comes as hiring activity in the UK remains subdued. Data cited by Sapia.ai from Reuters and Indeed showed job postings had fallen 11% since the start of the year and were 32% below their pre-pandemic level, even as demand for AI skills continued to rise.

Against that backdrop, recruitment technology suppliers are placing greater emphasis on tools designed to help employers do more with the information they already collect. Sapia.ai is positioning Tia as a way to reuse interview data that often goes untouched once a vacancy has been filled.

Businesses spend heavily on attracting, interviewing and assessing candidates, but much of the knowledge generated during that process is then left in separate systems or archived reports, according to Sapia.ai. Tia is designed to surface those records so hiring teams can revisit previous applicants, compare shortlisted candidates or prepare interview guides without manually searching through documents.

Examples include identifying candidates already in a talent pool, assessing which previous applicants showed leadership potential, comparing two finalists and creating onboarding plans based on information already captured. The assistant works only with an organisation’s own hiring data held within the Sapia.ai platform.

That approach reflects a wider debate over the use of AI in recruitment. Employers and software providers are under pressure to show that automated recommendations can be understood and challenged, particularly when they affect employment outcomes. Sapia.ai said each answer provided by Tia is based on structured interview evidence and accompanied by transparent reasoning.

Barb Hyman, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Sapia.ai, said the product is intended to help businesses make better use of information they already have.

“Tia is about helping businesses make better use of information they already have,” Hyman said.

“Companies spend millions every year attracting and assessing talent, but once a role is filled, much of that knowledge sits unused. We wanted to change that.”

Hyman said the system is designed to make historical hiring data more accessible when a new vacancy opens.

“Tia turns years of hiring data into something organisations can actually use. Instead of starting from scratch every time a new role opens, recruiters can instantly rediscover great candidates they’ve already met, compare applicants using real evidence and make decisions with greater confidence.

“We believe AI shouldn’t replace human judgement but actually make it better. Tia gives hiring teams the information they need, when they need it, while keeping people firmly in control of the final decision.”

Beyond recruitment

Sapia.ai said Tia could also be used for internal workforce analysis. In addition to helping fill jobs, the assistant is intended to help employers identify internal talent, highlight leadership potential and spot skills gaps using behavioural data gathered during recruitment.

This suggests the company sees the product extending beyond candidate selection into broader workforce planning. For employers facing lower hiring volumes and pressure on recruitment budgets, the ability to draw more value from existing candidate and employee data may prove attractive, particularly if it reduces duplicated search and assessment work.

At the same time, the claims are likely to be tested against ongoing scrutiny of AI tools used in human resources. Questions around bias, explainability and accountability remain central in the market, and vendors are increasingly expected to show that automated systems support rather than replace human decision-making.

Sapia.ai has made that distinction central to Tia’s launch, arguing that the assistant should be used to organise and interpret evidence already held by employers rather than make decisions on their behalf. The tool is now available as part of its platform.

A spokesperson for the water company said it is fixing 20 per cent more leaks than normal, or the equivalent of one every 10 minutes.

The company has said the prolonged hot and dry weathers puts pressure on the water pipes, with dry ground putting strain on the pipes.

At the same time, the company has put the blame on customers as higher demand for water increased making bursts and leaks more likely.

The company also confirmed it has replaced 100km, out of 140,00km total, of water mains since April last year, their biggest upgrade in 150 years.

CEO Chris Weston defended the company’s pay levels, as his pay rose by 14% to £1.163 million in the year to March, while other directors received bonuses totalling £4.1 million. (Image: House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA Wire)

Additionally, £500 million has been invested in finding and fixing leaks.

The company has just come under fire after CEO, Chris Weston, said on the BBC’s Big Boss Interview podcast, stated that some of the firm’s targets were beyond what they could achieve.

He said: “We have to hit a certain level of leakage, but it is so far in excess of what we are capable of doing, I think anyone would be capable of doing, however much money you invested, that it is not going to be achievable.”

Last year, it was fined a record £122.7 million by regulator Ofwat, largely for breaching sewage spill rules.

The company, serving 16 million customers in London and parts of southern England, treats 4.3 billion litres of waste daily.

Mr Weston, however, warned of the potential burden on taxpayers if this were to happen.

Instead, he backed a rescue deal proposed by the firm’s lenders.

Meanwhile, Mr Weston defended the company’s pay levels, as his pay rose by 14 per cent to £1.163 million in the year to March, while other directors received bonuses totalling £4.1 million.