NEW owners have stepped in to reopen Port Talbot’s Grand Hotel just two weeks after its shock closure.

They have also taken on 18 of the 20 staff who lost their jobs when the doors closed last month.

Although the century-old building in Station Road is owned by Punch Taverns, the business was owned and run by two partners who decided to cease trading through illness and retirement.

Now the Alchemy Pub Company Limited, which runs a chain of pubs in South Wales including Swansea’s No Sign Bar, has taken over and the Grand is back in business again.

Alchemy’s managing director Mark Hartson said: “We have taken it on as a holding company, with a view to buying the building.

“We interviewed the staff who were there before and the majority of them, 18 out of the original 20, have been taken back on.

“We wanted to give it back to them because they know the place so well.”

The landmark hotel is in an area of town where Neath Port Talbot Council wants to spend millions of pounds on regeneration projects. It is also opposite Port Talbot Parkway railway station, itself due for a multi-million pound upgrade.

Council head of property and regeneration Gareth Nutt said: “We are really pleased a new operator for the Grand Hotel has been found so quickly, particularly someone with experience of similar operations in the region.

“This is a really good sign of confidence in Port Talbot, and particularly the lower Station Road area.

“The council has ambitious plans to continue to regenerate Port Talbot and the operation of the Grand Hotel fits in with our aspirations for the railway station and the development of Harbour Way and the town centre.”

Angela Lake, from Velindre, was a regular customer at the hotel before it closed.

“Everybody is happy that it has reopened so quickly and that the staff have had their jobs back,” she said. “Nobody wanted to see it become run down like the Plaza Cinema.

“I don’t know what the new owners have planned but I think they are going to try to improve it.”

paul.lewis@swwmedia.co.uk