by business editor Trevor Sturgess

A building society chief has stepped down.

Rob Procter, deputy chief executive of Kent Reliance Building Society, decided to take early retirement from the end of the year.

Mr Procter, 52, has been with the Chatham-based mutual for more than 20 years. He previously ran a local branch. He said he had enjoyed his time with Kent Reliance but now wanted to spend more time with his family.

He has been with the society during a period of rapid growth. It became the fastest-growing building society in the UK and earned a reputation for table-topping investment rates. It also slashed costs by outsourcing processing work to a back office operation in Bangalore, India, and more recently a second office in Pune.

In recent months, the society has faced increasing competition from banks bailed out by the taxpayer. Mr Procter was a fierce critic of this and the way building societies were asked to contribute to a compensation fund to bail out failing banks when they had nothing to do with the credit crunch.

Mike Lazenby, chief executive, said he was disappointed that Mr Procter had decided to leave. "We tried to persuade him to stay but I think he decided that 20 years is more than enough and I can understand that", he said.

"Rob has had a very long and valued career with the society. He has brought a lot of depth and knowledge, made a significant contribution to our Channel Islands business and development of our Indian operation. He has done a great job for the society, its members and staff and he is also a personal friend."