Highland housebuilder Springfield Properties has announced that long-serving chief financial officer Michelle Motion has stepped down with immediate effect.

Ms Motion has been replaced on an interim basis by finance director Iain Logan, who has been with the firm for three years.

The company gave no explanation for the sudden departure of Ms Motion, but said it will update the market on the recruitment process for a permanent successor in due course. Her photograph was removed from the company’s website.

Ms Motion has been with the Elgin-based firm for nine years and played a key role in the company’s stock market flotation in 2017. Her time in office has also embraced a period of M&Q activity, including the acquisition of Mactaggart & Mickel’s house building business as well as Tulloch Homes and Dawn Homes.

Sandy Adam, chairman of Springfield, said: “On behalf of the board and everyone at Springfield, I would like to thank Michelle for her contribution over the past nine years.

“During that period, we have become a public company and undertaken multiple acquisitions that have transformed the scale of our business. We wish Michelle all the best for the future.”

In its interim results for the six months ended 30 November 2022, the housebuilder said it took the strategic decision to temporarily halt entering new long-term affordable housing contracts in September amid the government’s freeze on rents and inflationary pressures.

Ms Motion’s departure comes a week after Stephanie Bruce, the chief financial officer at Abrdn, confirmed she would be leaving her post this year.