Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C), the upmarket hotel operator, will part company with three of its five independent non-executive directors, sparking fresh fears over its corporate governance.

Kwek Leng Beng, the billionaire chairman of M&C, owns 53 percent of the company and the Singaporean property entrepreneur has faced accusations that he exerts undue influence, to the detriment of minority shareholders.

Investors' fears were heightened yesterday by the announcement that its three longest-serving independent directors would step down from the board, including Christopher Sneath, the chairman of the audit committee.

Mr Sneath, a former senior partner of KPMG and a non-executive at M&C since 1999, will step down once a replacement as chairman of the audit committee has been appointed and after a suitable handover period.

Also leaving are Viscount Thurso and Charles Kirkwood, both of whom joined the board seven years ago. The two will be stepping down at the annual meeting in May.

One institutional shareholder, who asked not be named, said: “We're aware that some of the independent directors, in particular John Thurso, have long had concerns over corporate governance and have tried to get Kwek to change. It looks like John has lost his battle over this issue.”

Other City sources suggested that the position of Lord Thurso, who is a Liberal Democrat MP, had become difficult in light of his leading role in the Treasury Select Committee inquiry into the banking crisis, where the former hotelier has focused his questions on the corporate governance of banks and the role of non-executive directors in assessing risk.

Mr Kwek's management style has also been blamed for the rapid turnover of chief executives and finance directors since he floated the company in London in 1996. Peter Papadimitropoulos, who preceded Richard Hartman, the present chief executive, lasted only six months.

Mr Kwek has firmly rejected claims that he hires puppet chief executives. He told The Times last year that it was “a common misconception” that his chief executives had no power, adding: “I have to respect the views of my independent directors.”

Nigel Parson, an Evolution Securities analyst, said: “M&C's minority shareholders should be concerned with the departure of the three non- executive directors. The revolving door that has affected M&C executives now seems to be spinning for the non-executives, too.”

Adrian Bushnell, M&C's company secretary, insisted last night that the three resignations were “part of the normal process of refreshing the board”. He pointed out that Mr Sneath and and Mr Kirkwood were both in their seventies and that Lord Thurso had found more of his time being taken up by his parliamentary work.

Asked whether any of the men had expressed concerns over corporate governance at board meetings, Mr Bushnell said: “I'm not aware of any issues being expressed by them.”

Lord Thurso said: “I have a policy of never commenting on anything relating to the company.”

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