Sports Direct puts Lillywhites lease on the market

Sports Direct could be giving up one of London's most coveted retail sites, after reports that it has put the Lillywhites lease on the market.

The six-store site in the heart of London's Piccadilly Circus has been trading as a sporting goods retailer bearing the Lillywhites name since 1925.

The Guardian has reported that the 97-year lease for the 67,700 sq ft site has been put on the market by landlords Criterion Capital, as it conducts rent review talks.

It is believed Sports Direct pays less than £1m a year rent on the site and it is being marketed for £4m. Criterion is also undertaking a significant redevelopment of the Piccadilly Circus area.

The first Lilllywhites store was opened on nearby Haymarket in 1863 by the Lillywhite family whose heritage was in cricket. It later moved the flagship to Piccadilly Circus and eventually the business, which supplied official footballs to the FA and outfits to players at Wimbledon among others, had 10 stores across the country.

It was owned by the Forte Group for a number of years and was sold to a Portuguese business, Jeronimo Martins, in 1995. Mike Ashley's Sports Direct acquired it from Jeronimo Martins in 2002 and with it the Lonsdale boxing brand.

Today there are three Lillywhites stores in operation in the UK, in Piccadilly Circus, in Seaham near Durham and in Doncaster, plus two in Kuwait.