LIVERPOOL One has put some tenants in the £1bn shopping and leisure complex on monthly rental terms and is prepared to work with others who may prefer the arrangement to the conventional quarterly system.

Estate manager Chris Bliss said they offered the terms in order to help tenants in some of the toughest trading conditions in living memory.

“In this economic climate you can’t kid anyone that retailers aren’t finding it tough, so we will talk to the retailers on an individual basis and about monthly rents,” he said.

“It is horses for courses and most still want monthly terms. There are flexible packages out there, but it is a very small number, a handful that are on monthly terms, not even half a dozen.”

Sports retailer JJB secured its survival last month by persuading some of its landlords to switch from quarterly to monthly rental, but Mr Bliss said Liverpool One owner Grosvenor considered the option before JJB used it as a key element in its rescue deal.

He said: “We always look at how we can work innovatively. We don’t want to be draconian. We want to work with everybody.” However, despite the unprecedented downturn, Liverpool One’s 1.6m sq ft of retail space is already 96% full, with seven more lettings scheduled for the next three months and another seven with lawyers.

Mr Bliss said: “They’re really good figures that outperform national averages, particularly in the current economic climate.

“Even in good retail times it is not unusual to find most centres trading around 96% occupancy and it gives a flavour of how close and how quickly we are going to get to the 100% let mark.” Mr Bliss said it also means they need not compromise on the quality of lettings.

“The retail mix we have is in line with what we wanted and that is why there are still some untenanted units.

“We have a target retail list we will talk with and we will hold firm.”

When the upturn eventually arrives Liverpool One will prosper from the added benefit of some tenants on turnover leases.