THE building where the Beatles signed a contract dubbed “the most important in music history” is to be demolished.

Their manager Brian Epstein’s former offices on Whitechapel in the city centre will be cleared to make way for a clothing store.

A £25m project to build a flagship store for budget retailer Forever 21, nicknamed the ‘American Primark’, is due to begin in January.

Disappearing will be the offices in which the Beatles struck a five-year management contract that would ultimately pave the way for their world domination.

On January 24, 1962, John Winston Lennon, George Harrison, James Paul McCartney and Richard Starkey (Ringo Starr) all put their names to paper on a deal that would guarantee them just a farthing each for every record sold.

Epstein, who ran the NEMS record store in Whitechapel, drew up the contract having been blown away by the band’s performances at the Cavern.

He saw potential after watching queues for their iconic lunchtime gigs snake past his office window.

But Epstein vowed not to ink his name until he had secured a record deal for the group, which he achieved eight months later.

The contract sold at auction in 2008 for £240,000 and was listed as the “most important contract in music history”.

Fab Four expert Stephen Bailey, who runs the Beatles Shop on Mathew Street, said: “It’s sad. NEMS was where Brian Epstein became the driving force of the Beatles and set them on their way to stardom.

“He was the one who took them from being a scruffy bunch of herberts and put them together as the complete package.

“I hope that the new owners do the right thing and put a plaque on the building so what happened there can be remembered. It’s sad to see it go.”

The office is now the base of city solicitor Rex Makin.

His son, Robin, confirmed that they were leaving the building at the end of this week to reopen nearby in January at the former home of Rushworth’s music store.