Company Voluntary Arrangements could become one of the UK’s most popular corporate lifelines if JJB Sports secures a ground-breaking agreement with its landlords.

Falling sales and mounting debts led JJB, the sportswear retailer, to approach its landlords last month with its own CVA proposal, saying it was the only way it could avoid falling into administration.

CVAs are legal agreements between a company and its unsecured creditors to allow the company to continue trading.

Under the terms of the CVA, JJB asked its landlords for permission to pay rent monthly rather than quarterly on its 250 open stores and, more controversially, to pay less rent than is due on the 140 stores it has closed.

Financial Times