DONALD GORDON, the combative 73-year-old chairman of Liberty International, yesterday said that he would shun City headhunters in the hunt for his successor, choosing instead to control the search process himself.

Mr Gordon, who yesterday confirmed that he would retire by his 75th birthday — on June 24, 2005 — from the business he founded in 1957, said he expected his successor to come from within the FTSE 100 retail property company.

However, Mr Gordon ruled his two sons, Graeme and Richard Gordon, out of the process, even though they both serve as non-executive directors of the company.

Mr Gordon said: “The position will probably be best served by one of the existing directors. Headhunters can find the best person in the world, but if they are not dedicated to the task, it makes no difference.”

City speculation instantly centred upon two of the non-executive directors, Robin Buchanan and Patrick Burgess, after they attended the company’s analyst presentation yesterday.

Liberty is also likely to take into consideration any new non-executive directors whom it appoints within the next few months.

Mr Gordon’s departure will mark the exit of one of the most colourful entrepreneurs in the property sector. Renowned for his explosive style, Mr Gordon has gained a reputation for sticking two fingers up at the corporate governance police and criticising the rising tide of taxes and regulation emanating from central government.

In that spirit, Mr Gordon said that Liberty had no plans to form a special committee to handle the search process, arguing that he personally would handle interviews for the job and then make a decision after reaching an agreement with the rest of the board.

“It will have to be someone that I find acceptable because my family and I control a big part of the vote,” Mr Gordon said.

He added that he planned to retain his family’s 21.6 per cent stake in the business because, in his view, Liberty was the “best investment around”.

Mr Gordon said that his decision to step down had been prompted by frustration at the rising tide of regulation in the quoted company sector.

“It’s not much fun being a chairman of a public company any more,” he said. “All these corporate governance rules wreck entrepreneurship. If all these rules had existed when I started in business, I don’t think this company would be where it is today.”