Sources said that there had long been tension between Alban Cooper, which has a bias towards retail property, and other members of the organisation which aimed to offer a wider range of services.

Alban Cooper plans to grow its own network of European offices, and it will be opening new branches in London and Lisbon. With the existing representation in Paris, Madrid, Milan, Rome, Barcelona and Istanbul this brings Alban Cooper's network to eight.

Chairman Jean-Yves Lecerf said: 'Further strategic partnerships are targeted over the next two years focusing on such specialisations as facilities management. We are also evaluating partnerships in key areas where we see the critical mass growing such as shopping centre management.'

Alban Cooper was recently appointed by Pradera, the pan-European retail property fund set up by Pail Wight, to manage its Euro-zone properties. The firm now has 25 shopping centres across Europe under management and Lecerf said he aspires to 100 within three years.

GVA Grimley spokeswoman Dierdre Cornes said that Lisbon-based GVA Consultimo will take over responsibility for the whole of Iberia, and that talks were already under way with a potential French replacement for Alban Cooper.

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