Liverpool's Lewis's brand name on the market

The brand name of one of Liverpool's most well-known department stores has been put up for sale.

Potential buyers will be able to buy up the brand name of Lewis's, and take advantage of the established reputation developed by the company, which finally shut its flagship Liverpool store in May 2010.

The department store was first founded in 1856 by David Lewis and went on to establish branches across England - and one in Scotland - before slowly falling out of business.

The agents acting for the sale, Metis Partners, said they expected to see a lot of interest from retailers based in and looking to launch on the high streets of the north west, who were well aware of the recognition the brand carried with it.

Metis representative, Stephen Robertson, said, "A buyer could put the name on the high street and put it above a shop.

"You could expect that having that name there could mean that someone walking by would recognise it and therefore may walk into the shop rather than the one next to it - and there's value in that."

A previous famous name that was sold on after the business ceased trading was MFI, which was bought for £250,000 the DIY chain fell victim to the recession in 2008.