A TRADITIONAL department store, whose late owner left it to his loyal workforce, is up for sale and could fetch £1.5m.

Philip Hall's store in Fishergate, Ripon, North Yorkshire, was founded by Quaker John Phillipson Hall 53 years ago. He died, aged 87, in 1995.

Mr Hall's staff discovered they had been left the store after attending his funeral. It is now run as a staff partnership.

Mr Hall's Quaker beliefs influenced his business dealings and he always treated his workforce as part of an extended family.

If the store is sold, the 23 staff - average age mid-50s - will get a financial windfall.

Managing director Terence Atkinson said turnover had been "rather static" over the past decade and rising costs had not been matched by rising sales.

Civility and service have been bywords at the store, whose regular customers included a woman from Richmond, in Surrey, who made an annual pilgrimage for her shopping spree.

But Mr Atkinson said the store had been affected by lifestyle changes, including mail order and Internet shopping.

Already some interest has been shown in buying the store but Mr Atkinson pledged it would not be sold "as a shell".

He revealed that the store had already been approached by supermarket giant Sainsbury's for the key site, close to Ripon Market Place - but said he was determined that it should remain a department store.

He said: "We want to sell it as a going concern to someone who will continue to trade and serve in a similar manner, and improve.

"We cannot survive the way we are in Ripon, but we will persist and are hopeful we can continue as a department store, but in another guise."