HSBC is moving its Liverpool retailing banking headquarters from Dale Street to a building on Lord Street, near the Liverpool One retail development.

The banking giant is also planning to move its corporate and commercial departments to another location in the city, possibly 20 Chapel Street, which is home to several financial and professional services companies.

Its current Dale Street building, which is owned by Prudential, is being sold for more than £3 million, reports the Liverpool Daily Post.

In February, development firm Grosvenor unveiled three newly-refurbished office buildings at its Liverpool One development, providing 35,000 sq ft of office space.

A spokeswoman for HSBC told the newspaper: "We have just secured the site in Lord Street and that will become our flagship branch in Liverpool."

According to a study by estate agency Knight Frank, the commercial property sector in Liverpool is buoyant, with the amount of office space let rising by 17 per cent in 2007.