A new bar/restaurant will be built at the busy hotel and the function room will be extended and improved.

Owners Joe and Veronica Nellis say it is a vote of confidence in Inverclyde.

They want to attract more weddings, conferences and other functions to the ‘A’ listed Ardgowan Square building, where all 52 bedrooms have been refurbished in recent years.

Mr Nellis said he has received planning permission, and wants to start the £700,000 contract as soon as possible.

Tenders are out, and he hopes the work will go to a local company.

The back wall of the Ardgowan function room will be knocked down to extend it, new air conditioning and toilets will be installed, and French windows will be fitted at the side of the room leading on to a covered walkway.

This will increase the capacity for wedding guests from 160 to 220.

A bar/restaurant catering for 88 people will be created from the basement underneath the function room, with an entrance off Robertson Street.

The front of the 200-year-old building will be unchanged, and Historic Scotland say they are happy with the proposals.

Mr Nellis said: “A lot of Inverclyde couples hold their weddings in Glasgow and we want to improve the Tontine to encourage more to hold their weddings here.

“There are no bars in this catchment area, so we feel there is definitely a market for a new bar/restaurant.” Forty-two full and part-time staff are currently employed at the Tontine, which in addition to its large function business attracts many foreign visitors tracing their roots, as well as passengers and entertainers waiting to board cruise ships.

The new jobs will be a mixture of full and part-time posts.

Mr Nellis spoke to the Tele along with his accountant, Ian McDougall, who has sourced bank funding for the project.

Mr McDougall, who is one of the SNP candidates hoping to contest Greenock and Inverclyde at next year’s Scottish Parliament elections, said: “We’ve been working on this for about a year. It’s great news for Inverclyde.”