A major campaign, backed by some of the biggest names in the business, is calling for a Minister for Hospitality to be appointed to help the sector recover from the damaging impact of the pandemic.

Among those throwing their support behind the bid - which has set up a petition in the hunt for 100,000 signatures, enough to trigger a debate in the House of Commons - are Faversham brewery CEO Jonathan Neame, celebrity chefs Raymond Blanc and Tom Kerridge and TV's Hotel Inspector, Alex Polizzi.

Leading the campaign is Robin Hutson, founder of the award-winning Pig hotel and restaurant chain which runs The Pig at Bridge Place, near Canterbury.

It, along with all other restaurants, pubs and hotels in the county, has been forced to close completely since Kent was put into the toughest Tier 3 restrictions.

Earlier today he held a Zoom presentation with 150 of the "great and the good" of the hospitality sector to promote a new Instagram account aimed at getting the signatures necessary from those who work in the industry and their customers.

It is hoped by having a dedicated senior minister championing the cause of the influential sector, mistakes made this year will not be repeated again.

Mr Hutson told KentOnline: "We've long held the view that as the third largest industry in the UK we're not adequately respected or represented by the government.

"Some of the rules and regulations that have been imposed this year - like the 10pm curfew for instance - have been done so without a deep understanding of what that has meant for the sector.

"Anyone in hospitality will tell you how devastating that rule was. Arguably it had very little effect on the health strategy, but a devastating one on the economic performance of the sector.

"Things like that, and there have been many this year, are made through a lack of a deep understanding of a very complex sector. They made stupid mistakes just out of ignorance.

"I've been in the industry 45 years and prior to March of this year, I'd never heard a minister utter the word hospitality - now they're talking about it like there's no tomorrow. They don't really understand it, but they're talking about it.

"It's brought a very sharp focus onto the sector, particularly with a view to how many youngsters it employs and the supply chain which relies on it; it's just massive and touches so many."

Among those lending their support and backing a new Instagram campaign will be the likes of restaurateurs and chefs Angela Hartnett, Michael Caines, Brian Turner and Richard Corrigan.

Each day three big names will post a photo of an empty table in their restaurant with a message calling for better representation in Whitehall.

It comes at a crunch time for the sector in the county.

With the government set to review Kent's Tier 3 status on December 16, those in the sector are keeping their fingers crossed restrictions are eased in order to generate vital funds over the festive period.

But Mr Hutson, whose company operates hotels across all three tiers nationwide, fears Kent may struggle to get a reprieve.

He explains: "Some of the worst areas in the country when it comes to virus increases seem to be in Kent.

"When I see that I thought I can't see us coming out of Tier 3 this side of Christmas, but we would dearly love to operate. We have a lot of reservations on the books, we believe we can operate safely. But I think it's looking increasingly gloomy to be honest.

"The financial impact has been absolutely brutal. The furlough scheme is very helpful, and some of the VAT and business rates relief has helped, but it doesn't stop the other bills coming in.

"You just haemorrhage cash everyday.

"I so feel for the tiny businesses which don't have the resources we do. We have some heft behind us to weather the storm, but it's really brutal and just exhausting.

"It's so alien to hospitality people to put in all these rules and regulations - we just want people to have a good time; that's the nature of our business.

"We fully support the safety measures and I think between July and September it demonstrated how well it has managed itself. Even to this day there is no concrete evidence that any of the spread is through hospitality venues; the government has not been able to produce this.

"We, rightly, feel we're the scapegoat for everything at the moment."

A spokesman for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said: "The government recognises the importance of the UK’s hospitality sector, which plays a vital role in supporting local communities up and down the country and the UK economy. The sector is extremely broad, ranging from the arts and entertainment to pubs, cafes and restaurants, and as such responsibility for the sector as a whole is shared by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport.

"Ministers in both departments have worked closely with business leaders and representative bodies from across the sector throughout the pandemic to ensure that the interests of the hospitality businesses and their employees are fully represented within government.

"Hospitality sector business leaders were consulted on the government’s Covid-Secure guidance for businesses, and ministerial engagement with the sector has helped to shape the government’s extensive package of business support measures, which has included the job retention scheme, reduced VAT, rates relief, the commercial rent moratorium, hospitality grants, loan support schemes, the self-employed income support scheme, regulatory easements to support outdoor hospitality and the Eat Out to Help Out scheme."

To sign the petition click here.

To follow the campaign on Instagram, search Seat_at_the_table_ on the app.

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