MEMBERS of Dorset’s hospitality industry are banding together in an effort to get through the lockdown and emerge with the area as a top national destination.

Around 100 people, representing more than 150 venues, have signed up to an online community called the Wonky Table.

Andy Lennox, who launched the Koh Thai brand in the last recession and went on to found Zim Braai, saw the network grow after a handful of people connected via WhatsApp.

The group is providing advice and support on getting through the crisis and accessing official help. It has also forged connections with the national body UK Hospitality and is lobbying for the industry.

Mr Lennox said Dorset could emerge from the crisis as a national leader, but faced tough times until at least the end of summer 2021.

BCP Council recently said only £45million of the £129m allocated it had been allocated in grants to small hospitality businesses had so far been paid out.

Mr Lennox said the council was among the best in the country for getting grants out to eligible businesses, but around a quarter of were thought not to have applied.

“We are all in this together. We all need to come out of it together and we need to bring along all the businesses that aren’t getting the grants. We’ve got to get those people to come along with us,” he said.

Other well-known figures in the Wonky Table network include Kris Gumbrell, Bournemouth-based founder of the Brewhouse & Kitchen chain, and Andy Price, founder of WestBeach.

Members have been offered free guidance from professionals including Roger Wareham of Saffery Champness Chartered Accountants and Natalie Burman of Genesis Legal.

Mr Lennox said when the lockdown ended, Dorset’s tourist areas needed to be “cleaned, painted” and with a marketing plan in place.

“Everybody needs to be working together for one common goal which is that BCP, and Wimborne and the rest of Dorset are ready for when this comes back, because there’s an opportunity for us to be the leader in England,” he said.

He said it was likely that some social distancing would still be in place when the lockdown ended, which could halve the capacity of restaurants. It would be important to draw diners in every night of the week, he said.

He said he had encouraged people to enjoy their downtime and he had spent more time than ever with his family. “It’s a long summer holiday but I’m encouraging everybody to enjoy that, because we’re not going to get it again and when we go back into this, this is going to be hard,” he said.

“We’re not going to recover from this until August 2021. It’s going to be a really hard slog for the next 12 months.

“It’s going to be really, really difficult and a lot of businesses will still go under.”

Mr Lennox was on the verge of opening a Bournemouth branch of his Poole-based African-themed restaurant Zim Braai when the lockdown began.

“We will open. As soon as it’s safe for us to be on site, we will be on site,” he said.

“We’ve got the most lovely weather and we’re sitting there with a beautiful terrace ready to go and it’s just an absolute shame but we will get it open and there will be an amazing party when we do,” he said.

Mr Lennox was among a group of friends who launched Koh Thai after the crash of 2008. It was sold in 2016 and he left the business in 2018 to open Zim Braai.

“We did some of our best work in the recession,” he said.

He said the industry “probably needed a re-setting” because restaurants had been operating on small profit margins in a bid to keep prices low.

“We don’t all have superyachts. It’s wafer thin margins, it’s wafer thin profitability, but we do it because we love it,” he said.

Information is available by searching for the private Facebook group The Wonky Table.