Mr Emmerson, pictured, said: "While some retailers have moved to monthly payments, the
quarter day still remains a hurdle for many companies' cash flow.
September 25 marks the latest '
Quarter Day' on which commercial rental payments are traditionally due to be made, raising concerns that more traders in the sector will be feeling the pinch on their finances.
Rent '
quarter day' on September 29 will be a worrying time for retailers according to a city insolvency expert.
This is out of sync with the solar year which has about 365 and a
quarter days.
Traditional Rent
Quarter Days, which see retailers pay three months' rent in advance to their landlords, often see a resulting spike in retail insolvencies shortly afterwards because of the squeeze on cash flow and complex rules on administration costs.
The majority of new leases now require only one month's rent to be paid up front, but many older leases still operate under the old system where rent falls due four times a year on "
quarter days", including December 25.
THIS Thursday is the Autumn Equinox (also known as Mabon and the Harvest festival), one of the
quarter days of the year, a Lesser Festival celebrated by witches, pagans and many others who follow a spiritual path.
In Britain, however, February 2nd coincides with Candlemas (one of the calendar's four Cross
Quarter Days), which marks the beginning of spring.
Where tenants have previously been able to negotiate break clauses in their leases, the trigger dates for serving notices are typically on the traditional
quarter days - of which Christmas Day is one.
The quarterly rent payments which traditionally fall in March, June, September and December represent a major outgoing for struggling firms, and well-known high street names have fallen into administration in either the run-up to or days immediately following
Quarter Days over the last few years, as the pressure to meet their rental obligations has finally proved too much for their finances.
The quarterly rent payments that traditionally fall in March, June, September and December represent a significant outgoing for struggling firms in the present climate, with the equivalent
Quarter Day in 2011 seeing the largest wave of retail administrations since the height of the recession Well-known names such as Habitat, Zavvi, Whittard and The Officers Club have fallen into administration in the run-up to or period immediately following
Quarter Days over the last couple of years, as the pressure to meet property rental payments has finally proved too much for their finances, and addressing rental costs remain a central issue in the ongoing retail administrations today.