Tom Aikens closes kitchen offshoots in Birmingham and Canary Wharf

The Birmingham and Canary Wharf iterations of Tom's Kitchen, the casual brasserie chain operated by Tom Aikens, haveclosed.

A spokeswoman for the restaurant told The Caterer that both sites had closed on 30 May. She added that the flagship Chelsea branch, which opened in 2006 and underwent a relaunch last year "remains open and continues to trade successfully."

The loss of the two restaurants reduces the chef's portfolio down to one UK site, along with Pots Pans and Boards in Dubai and three restaurants in the Edition Hotel in Abu Dhabi. It follows a year of ongoing closures within the casual dining sector, including Jamie Oliver's Italian chain last month.

Tom's Kitchen has undergone gradual growth and consolidation over the past 13 years, first expanding into Somerset House, London, in 2009 which later gave way to Bryn Williams' residency last year. The Canary Wharf branch launched in 2012. Tom's Kitchen Birmingham, the most recent UK opening, launched in December 2016 in shopping centre the Mailbox.

The closures follow comments from Aikens to The Times about the ongoing skills shortage in the industry. Last month he told the paper "I am constantly looking for the next stars in the industry and struggling to find the skillset we need due to the drop of new talent emerging from the education system.