Work on a major £200,000 ground floor extension is underway at The Ship Inn in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire.

The investment comes on the back of a very successful period of trading for The Ship Inn, with a 19% increase in room trade and an 8% growth in food sales over the past 12 months.

Building work on the new extension started at the end of last year and will result in major improvements to customer facilities.

The main scope of the project is to build new downstairs public area toilets, followed by a complete refurbishment of the bar and lounge areas. The floor space of the lounge will be significantly increased with the removal of the existing toilets. It is expected that the work will be completed by April.

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Simon Cruickshank, owner of the 18th century harbour front property, says the latest investment is part of a planned programme of improvement works which has been carried out over the past seven years.

He added: "This is a significant project for The Ship Inn, and one which we have been waiting to undertake for some time. The hospitality sector has been put under enormous pressure as a result of the current economic climate, as eating out and holidays are usually the first things to be cut from the household budget. However, we are bucking the trend and feel confident about spending more money to make further improvements to our facilities.

"Over the past seven years the floor space of the restaurant has been extended by 50%, and we have increased the number of rooms we have from five to 11, and all of these are en-suite. We have done a lot to upgrade the hotel, but the new extension will be significant because it is a piece of work that has been planned for a considerable length of time."

(GK)