Rent Asunder

It would be churlish to ignore the news that Liverpool One has made it onto the shortlist for an international design award (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2009/03/27/liverpool-one-awards-joy-100252-23247167/ ).
However, the bigger picture for this cathedral of consumerism remains deeply troubling, & its owners, Grosvenor, find themselves drawn into a national issue which will do nothing to fill the increasing number of empty retail spaces in the development (http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/mar/24/retail-recession ):
"Accountants are warning that the quarterly rent bill, coming on top of deteriorating trading conditions, will push many more retail businesses into insolvency -- and those bankruptcies may then hav grim repercussions for landlords, who need the income to meet their own debt repayment demands."
The Guardian report notes that the British Retail Consortium (BRC) want landlords to collect property rent on a monthly basis. The practice of quarterly collection dates back centuries, long before industrialisation. One insolvency specialist is quoted in the article as predicting that up to nine "well known retail chains" will go bust over the next three months.