And the fact that Sir Philip Green and Land Securities’ chief executive were among the line up – and more importantly that friendly noises have been heard since – makes it all the more promising.
Green is a man used to multi-tasking, but last week must have tested his reserves. In any other week the fact that he had met with representatives of retail property’s biggest players would have been enough to chew over. But when you consider that he had to juggle this with trips to Iceland with empire building in mind, arguing with landlords must have seemed somewhat less crucial.
But it is important that the issue is still alive and moving. The announcement that Arcadia and Land Securities will sit on a smaller working group to take it forward is welcome news.
While it is right that as many players as possible from both retail and property are represented, the only way the matter will truly get a nudge is through open and honest conversations. And as both sides will know, if you want honesty and openness, too many cooks can spoil the broth.
Since last week’s meeting the lines of communication have gone distinctly quiet. It seems that, more so than usual, the players are keeping their cards close to their chests. They may think that moving the issue on can only happen behind closed doors, but if the industry needs to change, why are they afraid to talk openly about it?
The days following September 29’s quarterly rent payment were touted as a make-or-break time, and while there have been some notable casualties – Joy, Rosebys and Miss Sixty – it wasn’t the blood bath that many were predicting. Two weeks on, we can all come out of our shelters and survey the fallout. However, as we already know, after Christmas is more telling than the September quarter day.
Interestingly, some of monthly rent’s biggest advocates, including Arcadia, paid up like lambs with three months' rent. You don’t even need one hand to count the retailers that only coughed up one month’s rent without first squaring it with their landlords.
For all the talk of battle lines being drawn, it seems that co-operation will still prevail.
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