Charlotte Valeur was ousted as chair of the Institute of Directors because she wanted to get rid of its Pall Mall base.
Valeur, a Danish-born corporate governance expert, had apparently proposed the radical move as the pandemic caused the IoD’s income to plummet, but met resistance from the board and director-general Jonathan Geldart.
The IoD has a lease on its Grade I-listed headquarters until 2043. It costs £2.7m a year.