General Healthcare Group’s chief financial officer, Craig Lovelace, will be leaving the private hospital chain for plus-size retailer N Brown.

Lovelace (pictured) will take on the position of chief financial officer at N Brown, replacing Dean Moore.

The move follows Jill Watts appointment as GHG chief executive last year after former incumbent Stephen Collier resigned.

The Sunday Times reported at the end of 2014 that a consortium of hedge funds was looking to take over GHG’s hospitals, which are leased to its operating arm BMI Healthcare.

GHG’s property arm has a £1.5 billion debt pile that dates from 2006 when GHG’s owners Netcare, Apax Partners and London & Regional acquired the business and split it into an ‘opco-propco’ model.