Workers with Castleton-based Richard Hayward Properties are now on site to start preparatory works ahead of the redevelopment of the old Yates Wine Lodge in Newport city centre to create a 60-bedroom Premier Inn hotel.

The scheme has been on hold for almost two years, principally due to the fact that the approved funding line from the Welsh Assembly’s Regeneration Investment Fund for Wales was suspended.

RHP is now waiting for final confirmation that Newport City Council is to make a £450,000 grant from the Vibrant & Viable Cities Fund.

In the meantime, RHP is in the process of finalising the few outstanding planning conditions and has mobilised its construction team, getting it on site to clear internal areas and erect scaffolding so that work can start on the façades. The main contract is due to commence early in 2015.

Delilahs will remain.

The firm has already reportedly invested more than £1.4m in the project, acquiring the site and clearing asbestos from the high-profile Grade II listed building.

The building sits directly opposite the city’s original railway station, close to the recently redeveloped market and just a short distance from Admiral House.

A spokesman for the firm said: "As a result, its revitalisation is essential in terms of Newport’s image to the outside world as a progressive and improving city. It will also act as a catalyst for further regeneration in the area."

Premier Inn, the Whitbread-owned hotel chain, which has more than 660 hotels across the UK and Ireland, entered into an agreement to lease with Richard Hayward Properties, as developer, in 2012.

It is anticipated that about 100 people will be employed during the redevelopment of the building, which will also create up to 50 permanent jobs in the hotel when finished. It is hoped that the project will be completed by late 2015 or early 2016.

Roger Dean, of Richard Hayward Properties, said: “I have been working to unlock this important opportunity for a long time and am looking forward to progressing with the project. It’s a significant development for Newport that will provide local jobs and support the regeneration in the city centre.”