A restaurant has helped bring families together and created some new ones.

For more than 40 years one family has been running Wimpy in Southend Victoria and the family connection with the firm dates back even further.

Now even its staff are following the trend as manager Bobby Wilson is due to marry Sarah the waitress.

The Southend branch, named as the chain’s best this year, was taken over in 1977 by Andreas Stamatopoulous, or Andy to his customers.

These days it is run by George and Anna Killi, Andy’s father.

“My mother in law’s father, Andreas, had a Wimpy in Lowestoft,” Mr Killi explained. “The family picked Wimpy as a business because in those days, Wimpy was the in thing.”

Mr Stamatopoulous managed a Wimpy in London and then one in Leigh, before buying the Wimpy franchise in Southend, when his daughter Anna was ten-years-old.

Anna and her two brothers were often called in to help their parents in the restaurant as schoolchildren.

“I remember wearing Wimpy uniform, giving our leaflets in the town centre at the age of 12,” she said. “I used to work as a cashier on Saturdays from my early teens. I have lots of happy memories of Wimpy – I grew up with the name around me.”

Mr Killi, who is also from Cyprus, met his wife in the 1980s, and the couple had two children – now a 29 year-old lawyer and a 24 year old teacher - who also lent a hand wiping tables at the restaurant during their school holidays.

“Over the years, everybody in the family got involved,” Mr Killi recalled.

When Mr Stamatopoulous retired in 2006, Mr and Mrs Killi, who had been running a Wimpy in Maldon, took over the Southend branch.

Mr Killi’s manager and chef, Bobby Wilson, has worked at the restaurant for more than 20 years, and his mum also worked for the family.

“Bobby even met his wife-to-be, Sarah here – she was a waitress of mine, and they’re getting married in October,” said Mr Killi. “The restaurant is like his second home now.”

Mr Killi added: We are run by family, for families. We have customers who recall having birthday parties here as kids, and now bring their children. It’s some kind of achievement these days.

“But it is hard work. Our family runs the restaurant and the restaurant runs us.”