A TALENTED team are preparing to breathe new life into a historic Gourock venue - and are creating four new jobs in the process.

Business partners Rashith Siriwardhana and Liuda Johnstone are to open a brand new cafe on the ground level of the former Albert Hotel in Gourock.

The pair say they want to bring a 'west end' feel in their new premises, called 1830 Eatery.

The new venture is the duo's first foray into managing a business, but both have spent years working in restaurants and cafes.

Rashith told the Tele how the pair met while working at Punto Italian restaurant in Kilmacolm and immediately hit it off.

He said: "Previously I had worked at Cairn in Kilmacolm and was there for about four years before I went to Punto, where I met Liuda.

"We both worked in the kitchen and found we had good chemistry.

"We saw the opportunity here and decided to take it on, it's very exciting.

"The idea is to bring a west end cafe vibe to this part of Gourock, using local suppliers from Inverclyde and Scotland.

"We'll have artisan coffee and home bakes from Liuda, whose speciality is baking.

"Liuda is from Moldova and I'm from Sri Lanka, we'd like to bring some of those cultures into our food when we're doing specials and that sort of thing."

The Albert was a bar when it closed down in 2016 and it was snapped up at auction by Kirsteen Murray a few months later.

She converted it into a guest house and had planned to lease it out for that purpose.

Rashith said: "When the owner explained the history of the Albert Hotel to us, we realised how much there was to this building.

"We're trying to bring that history to the new venture while also creating something new."

Rashith, who is originally from Sri Lanka, is classically trained in Mediterranean cuisine and has been working as a chef for 13 years.

Liuda hopes that the cafe will be ready to open by July and says she 'can't wait' to welcome locals in.

She added: "It's so exciting, I feel like I'm 21 again.

"Watching how previous businesses I've worked at grew, I've got a good idea of what I want to do with our venture.

"Rashith is a very good chef, he's calm and organised, there's no shouting or anything like that.

"I told him he should start his own business.

"We've already had a lot of people passing and saying how great it is to see someone taking the place over.

"We want to have a good environment for our staff and customers and make this place a nice social space for folk to come to."