The LSE has signalled its determination to replace chief executive Dame Clara Furse by appointing Anna Mann, one of the biggest names in UK headhunting, to find a candidate for the high-profile post.

Mann, a founder of City headhunter Whitehead Mann who left that firm in 2004 to set up MWM Consulting, was selected in late October following talks between Gibson-Smith and the board of directors, which includes Furse, about the appointment of a new chief executive next year.