Rob Roger has announced he is to step down as Spire Healthcare chief executive as of June 2016.

Roger (pictured) is to take up a role as chief executive of a large privately financed property business, details of which are due to be announced shortly.

In the wake of Roger’s announcement, Spire chairman Gary Watts will assume his former job role of executive chairman immediately and for up to 12 months beyond June 2016. Chief operating officer Andrew White will join the board as an executive director on 1 July 2016.

Roger will oversee the delivery of the company's annual results for the financial year ended 31 December 2015 on Thursday and “ensure an orderly handover” before departing.

He was named as the most influential leader in the independent healthcare sector at the HealthInvestor ‘Power Fifty 2015’ in November.

Watts said: "Rob has been with the business for over nine years. He played an integral part in the formation of Spire in 2007 and since then has been an important member of the Spire team, first as chief financial officer and then from 2011 as chief executive.

“He has overseen the significant growth of the company both organically and through acquisition, as well as successfully guiding it through both the Competition Commission investigation into the private healthcare sector and then the initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange. Under his leadership, Spire has become one of the leading UK private hospital groups. We will obviously be sad to see Rob depart, but wish him well in his new role."

It was announced earlier this year that Links Bidco Sarl, the consortium that owns the freehold on 12 Spire hospitals, has agreed a five-year bullet loan of £540 million to refinance the debt it used to purchase Spire’s facilities.