THE Bournemouth-based Koh Group has announced Lymington as the site of its 12th Thai restaurant.

Contracts have been completed on a grade two listed building at 113 High Street, formerly home to the restaurant La Vina.

The new venue is due to open in December and will be the fifth Koh Thai Tapas in Hampshire.

Andrew Lennox, CEO and founder of Koh Group, said: “Lymington has been in our sights for some time now and we are delighted to announce this acquisition.

“We know we have a fan base in Lymington of loyal customers who have been visiting our Ringwood and Christchurch branches in order to get their Koh Thai Tapas fix and who will be excited to hear of our opening.

“The site itself is extraordinary with bags of character and an outdoor space which will set us apart from competitors along the high street.”

The company said the building would be fitted out with the company’s hand-painted murals, fretwork and wood-clad bars. There would be 100 covers and another 80 in the garden.

The acquisition – which has taken over two years of negotiation – will be the group’s fourth opening this year.

Kevin Marsh of Savills acted as an agent on the deal.

Meanwhile Koh Thai says its most recent opening, at Romsey, has performed strongly, ranking top in the company for beating budget.

Mr Lennox said: “Romsey has opened incredibly well and whilst we are in the honeymoon period, that attention to detail and top class service seems to be going down well with the locals. We look forward to seeing how the site develops.”

The venue has averaged 90 covers a night, sold 832 pints of Asahi beer and 467 chicken satays.

Koh Thai began with a single restaurant in Boscombe in 2009, a partnership between Mr Lennox, Jay Hampton and Nick Billingham.

Speaking to the Daily Echo last year, Mr Lennox said they had been “recession kids” who took advantage of a property slump to acquire premises, with no capital from a bank.

“We started with no money whatsoever. We just decided we wanted to do some informal dining and wanted to do Thai tapas, which is our signature USP (unique selling proposition),” said Mr Lennox.

“We ran out of money probably three times before we opened it.”