THE BIGGEST STORIES ACROSS BRISTOL IN YOUR INBOX SIGN UP Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Bristol has lost out in the battle to be the new home of Channel 4’s regional headquarters – but the city is still being considered for one of the channel’s creative hubs.

Channel 4 has announced its final shortlist for its relocation as it prepares to move 300 of its 800 staff out of London and into regional offices by 2019.

Media industry figureheads and other supporters had united behind Mayor Marvin Rees to snare the biggest prize and the city had made the first shortlist.

However, Channel 4 executives announced on Monday, July 23, that Bristol had not made the final cut for the HQ.

Instead, the publicly-owned media outlet will choose between Birmingham, Greater Manchester and Leeds for its new second home.

But the race is not over for Bristol – it is still in contention for one of two "creative hubs" which Channel 4 plans to set up next year.

It is in the running, along with Cardiff and Glasgow and whichever two cities out of Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds do not make the final grade for the headquarters.

The decision was taken after Channel 4 executives spent June and July touring the 13 shortlisted cities for its new HQ and two smaller creative offices.

Jonathan Allan, Channel 4’s chief commercial officer who has led the relocation process, said “advanced negotiations” would now take place with the remaining six cities.

A final announcement on where the HQ and two creative hubs will be based is due in the autumn.

Mr Allan said: “Our visits to the 13 shortlisted cities over the last month were incredibly inspiring and I’d like to thank all of those involved for the huge amounts of creativity they demonstrated and the excitement for Channel 4 and what we could achieve together.

“We have again had to take some very difficult decisions on which cities to take forward to the next stage, but we believe the six cities we have selected are best able to deliver against our vision and requirements for the new national HQ and creative hubs.”

Mayor of Bristol, Marvin Rees, tweeted to say he was "delighted that Bristol is shortlisted for one of Channel 4's creative hubs".

He said: "Bristol has a dynamic combination of talent, thriving media sector and culture of innovation & disruption – just like C4."

But the Labour leader admitted he was "slightly disappointed" Bristol would not hold the "honour" of having the HQ.

Bristol welcomed the top team from Channel 4 – which included Mr Allan, chief executive Alex Mahon, and chief marketing and communications officer Dan Brooke – on June 22.

They were greeted with a front-page from the Bristol Post containing a message from a host of high-profile figures, from television presenter Carol Vorderman to Gogglebox pair Mary and Marina, urging the bosses to choose Bristol for their new home.

As part of its relocation plans, Channel 4 has committed to “significantly increasing” its spending in the UK regions by £250m over the next five years.

It will see its current quota of regional spending go from 35 per cent of its budget to 50 per cent by 2023.

Channel 4 does not produce its own programmes but instead commissions production companies to make films and TV shows on its behalf.