Primark has withheld rents for the first quarter of 2020 in a bid to force its landlords to negotiate rent terms with the retailer. The retailer is withholding rent on 110 properties in the UK and is asking landlords to help mitigate the impact of coronavirus by supporting their lease agreements.

The retailer does not trade online like many of its other high street fashion rivals and was forced to temporarily shut all 189 of its UK stores over the weekend ahead of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s wider retail lockdown announcement on Monday night.