Chester has been snubbed in its bid to become the new HQ for Channel 4.

Channel 4 is searching for a new HQ and two ‘creative hubs’ outside London with the shortlist announced today of towns and cities that will go through to the second stage.

Unfortunately, the joint cross-border submission by Chester and Wrexham is not on the list.

Chester MP Chris Matheson, who had backed the bid, said: “Obviously I’m disappointed that Channel 4 seem to have done the obvious thing and gone for the big urban centres when most of the population lives in towns and rural areas.

“But I’m pleased that we had the ambition to put ourselves forward and I’m pleased too at the continuing close working with our partners across the border as we drive forward the Mersey-Dee area as an area of real economic growth potential.

“There is real good to come out of this as we identify further opportunities for partnership.”

Chester's new Labour MP Chris Matheson enjoyed a working lunch at The Architect with the HQ for Cheshire West and Chester Council in the background, which is now also Labour controlled

Still in the running for the national HQ or creative hub are seven cities in the guise of Greater Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, West Midlands, Bristol, Cardiff and Glasgow.

Six others remaining in the race to establish a creative hub only are Nottingham, Sheffield, Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle-Gateshead, Belfast and Brighton.

Over 30 submissions were received in this first round from across the UK. These were reviewed and assessed by Channel 4 and the shortlist was agreed by chief executive Alex Mahon, chief commercial officer Jonathan Allan and the executive team.

Each of the shortlisted cities will participate in a second stage process – which will include Channel 4 visiting each city for a presentation and Q&A. Following this, Channel 4 will engage in further discussions with cities and regions as necessary, before selecting the final locations in October 2018.

Channel 4’s chief commercial officer Jonathan Allan, who is leading the pitch process, said: “We’ve been incredibly impressed both by the number of pitches we received and by the high quality of the submissions – which has underlined the huge amount of creativity, innovation and talent right across the UK.”

Channel 4 announced its 4 All the UK plan in March 2018 – a strategy to ensure Channel 4 serves the whole of the UK and the biggest change to the structure of the organisation in its 35-year history.