The Hamilton manager Billy Reid has turned down the chance to become Paulo Sousa's successor at Swansea.

Sousa left Swansea earlier this month in order to join Leicester, leaving the Championship club in the hunt for a new manager to lead them into the new season. But Reid, who has been in charge at Hamilton since 2005 and was named PFA Scotland Manager of the Year in 2008, will definitely not be their appointment after the Accies manager insisted he was staying in Scotland.

"Our chairman [Ronnie MacDonald] was asked by Swansea Football Club for permission to speak to our manager, Billy Reid, regarding an opportunity for Billy to take over as manager of Swansea," Hamilton's chief executive George Paterson told his club's official website. "Ronnie met our manager and after discussions Billy has decided that he did not want to pursue the opportunity at this time and declined the invitation. Billy was flattered by the approach from a club with the stature of Swansea but he feels obliged to see through the unfinished work he has at Hamilton."

Reid added: "I remain hugely ambitious and want to progress in management but with this offer the timing was wrong. On top of this I have a superb working relationship with our chairman, Ronnie MacDonald, who gave me my first opportunity in management at Broadwood and that is my ultimate reason for staying."

Reid told the Scottish Daily Record: "I don't want people to think I'm not ambitious because I am – and I want to manage at the highest level possible – but I feel this is the right decision for me at this time. It would have been a big step up for me and I might live to regret not going but Ronnie gave me the chance to manage at this level and I wanted to show him and the players a bit of loyalty."