Peter Allen, who leads Westfield operator Scentre, is adamant the shopping giant has won back ground from major retailers, such as Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments, which took advantage of the pandemic disruption to press for a radical overhaul in rent agreements.

The push for turnover rents – which link rents paid to a proportion of sales – has been strongly resisted by major landlords including Scentre, which would, as a consequence, see income-owed dramatically reduced during downturns. They could also lose the upside too potentially, as more sales head online.