Grant Harrod quits LJ Hooker

The chief executive of the real estate franchise business LJ Hooker, Grant Harrod has resigned.

It follows a decision by the board to ditch plans for its $400 million float on the ASX.

"The company was looking to IPO and when I came onto the board in 2014 it was a key objective," Mr Harrod told The Australian Financial Review.

"Now the board has made the call of not wanting to proceed and that has made the role redundant for me.

"My skills are not going to be utilised."

He advised that the company had no debt issues and its funding lines were secured until 2020.

Mr Harrod was hired three years ago after serving as chief executive of listed companies including the communication technology group Salmat Limited and office products company Corporate Express.

LJ Hooker's national market share sits behind Ray White with around 7 per cent.

The agency now hired global talent acquisition firm MitchelLake Group to conduct a search for a new chief executive.

LJ Hooker is one of the nation's best-known brands with more than 700 franchise offices and 8000 people across Australia and in New Zealand, the Pacific and Asia. 

Grant is also a director of Local Measure, a location based social media monitoring and customer experience management start-up technology company.