Many retailers will be feeling the pinch tomorrow, the day on which quarterly rents for commercial property are traditionally paid.
A number of firms have gone into administration on these days, which fall in March, June, September and December, over the past three years, as it becomes apparent they don't have the funds to meet their rental obligations.

Frances Coulson, president of insolvency trade body R3, believes more businesses could follow suit tomorrow after the impact the extended cold snap last winter has had on high street trading.

She said: "Trading conditions have clearly been extremely tough for many retailers since 2008, and after hanging on through the worst of the recession, the heavy snow that we all endured through the winter could well turn out to be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

"A lot of firms used the last of their resources to make it past the March payment date. With the latest figures showing a fall in retail sales, it is clear that there has been little improvement over the last three months. We could well see another swathe of retailers reaching the end of the road when the quarterly rental payments fall due."

The British Retail Consortium has campaigned for years for landlords to switch to monthly rent payments. Spokesman Richard Dodd says there has been "an enormous amount of progress" over the past five years, with monthly payments becoming the norm on new and even some existing leases.

However, he added: "We're still calling on those landlords not offering flexibility to copy the better landlords and show willingness to offer terms which are monthly, even on existing leases, and not just in response to those tenants being in difficult or potentially fatal situations.

"This argument has not been about helping those retailers who are in trouble but helping landlords to accept that the whole concept of advance quarterly payments is outdated and unjustifiable."

Ms Coulson has advised firms that think they might be facing problems in meeting their rents not to delay in taking action. She said: "Landlords are usually pragmatic enough to realise that getting some of the money they're owed and having their premises occupied is better than getting none of it and having an empty store. Arrangements to delay or reduce the payments can often be reached, and the cash flow situation could also be helped by reaching new payments with customers and suppliers."