The Chronicle understands the cinema operator that will run the small multiplex within the £300m Northgate Development is about to be revealed.

Journalists are being briefed tomorrow (Tuesday, September 6) where ‘important information’ is promised on the six-screen cinema as part of the council-backed city centre regeneration scheme.

Hotly tipped as winning operators are Picturehouse Cinemas, a former independent group, which shows both current blockbusters and art house films.

Since being taken over by Cineworld , the company has been expanding and the firm previously confirmed Chester was on its ‘long list’.

Cineworld at the Greyhound Retail Park will close for good on October 10
Chester's remaining cinema operated by Cineworld on the Greyhound Retail Park, closed in October, 2013.

Chester’s rival heritage city of York has run a Picturehouse cinema for many years under its City Screen brand.

Insiders at Cheshire West and Chester Council suggest Picturehouse Cinemas has been chosen but the council and operator are remaining tight-lipped at the moment.

The Chronicle understands the boutique cinema will be bespoke, with a bistro and bar - another indication it won’t be run along the lines of a mass market operation.

Cestrians must currently travel to Cheshire Oaks or Broughton to watch movies after the city’s last cinema – interestingly, run by Picturehouse owners Cineworld – closed in 2013.

However, the new cultural centre Storyhouse, which opens next spring, will include a single screen showing art house films.

Clare Huber, CWaCs senior construction manager, talks to the BBC's Phil McCann.

Clare Huber, CWaC’s senior construction manager, told The Chronicle in July that a cinema operator had been chosen. “We do have one, yes,” she said.

But Ms Huber would not confirm if the deal was signed and sealed.

More than half a dozen cinema operators had expressed interest in managing the multiplex above a new market hall to the rear of the main library where the bus exchange is now, alongside the cultural centre.

Meanwhile, talks are ongoing with department store chains to anchor the Northgate scheme. House of Fraser, who expressed interest in an earlier version of the project, remain hot favourite.

Ms Huber would not confirm whether CWaC had secured financial backing for the £300m retail project as a whole, especially against the background of economic uncertainty following the Brexit vote. But the mood music suggests an air of confidence.

She said: “The council is working with Strutt and Parker, who are the investment partners, to come up with the investment strategy that we will take to full council at the end of the year.”