Louis Armstrong, the outgoing chief executive of the RICS, has been described as a 鈥渉ard act to follow鈥� by leading industry figures

Armstrong, who will retire from his reported 拢406,000-a-year job this year, has been chief executive since 1998 and is credited with internationalising the body, which now operates in 140 countries.

The RICS鈥� governing council has yet to announce a replacement.

Max Crofts, RICS president, said: 鈥淟ouis has played a leading role in building RICS as the mark of property professionalism worldwide and has done an immense amount to raise our profile and influence around the world.鈥�

Richard Steer, senior partner at Gleeds, said: 鈥淗e has brought the RICS through a difficult time and transformed it into a global property organisation.鈥�

Graham Watts, chief executive of the Construction Industry Council (CIC), said: 鈥淗e鈥檚 a hard act to follow, but there are a lot of good people out there. No doubt some politicians will be interested after 6 May.鈥�

Last week 好色先生TV revealed the body would remain a member of the CIC following its proposal to withdraw because it did not think the industry-wide body was an effective channel to influence the government.