Owner Hortons’ Estate and the Principal Hotel Company announced plans a year ago to redevelop much of the existing Grand on Colmore Row into a luxury 180-room hotel.

Graham is understood to have been in talks about delivering the fit-out project although plans were delayed by the acquisition of Principal Hotel Company by Paris-based Foncière des Régions in March.

No start date has been announced although sources told the Enquirer the project is moving forward.

The hotel is expected to include extensive conference and banquet spaces, a restaurant and bar, a spa and a rooftop infinity pool.

The Grand was developed by the Horton Family between 1879 and 1895 and contained shops, offices and the Grand Hotel, which the family ran until 1969.

The hotel was subsequently managed by a number of operators until it closed in 2002.

Since 2009 Hortons’ Estate has invested £25m in the restoration of the building resulting in the creation of ten new shops and 11,000 sq. ft of offices fronting Colmore Row, together with significant re-modelling of the interior of the former hotel.

The work has been supported by grants from Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership, Birmingham City Council and Historic England.