// Primark demands rent cuts of 30%
// Its competitors are benefiting from CVAs
// Primark is offering to invest in refurbishment in return
Primark has called on landlords to cut its rent costs by 30 per cent while other retailers on the UK’s high streets are seeking cuts through CVAs.
The value fashion retailer is seeking reductions on stores where leases have several years left to run, and is offering to invest in refurbishment, the Sunday Times reports.
One of Primark’s landlords told the Sunday Times that the retailer’s property team has been told to get rent reductions as a result of pressure from competitors.
Retailers such as Monsoon and Arcadia’s Topshop and Miss Selfridge are among those to have cut rent costs through CVAs, many of which led to planned store closures.
Meanwhile, Primark has invested in its store expansion scheme, one notably being the new Birmingham flagship – its largest store to date.
The five-storey 160,000sq ft store is Primark’s 187th in the UK, and is believed to have cost around £70 million.
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