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Rob McGregor has made a sudden exit from his role as chief executive of Apollo Group, three months after completing a refinancing deal with Lloyds Banking Group.

In an email to staff at the social housing firm he cited 鈥減ersonal reasons鈥� and said he would take a 鈥渕uch needed rest鈥� before deciding on his next move.

He has been replaced by Dave Sheridan (pictured), former chief operating officer, whose role will be left vacant.

McGregor鈥檚 email said: 鈥淭he group is in excellent shape, with a strong order book, strong finances and a high calibre management team, so I leave with the feeling of a job well done.鈥�

He will surrender 16% of his 24% stake in the firm to the remaining management team, but will retain about 8% of the company.

Lloyds, which completed a refinancing deal in June to prepare for the sale of Apollo, has a stake of about 20%. This is included in a portfolio of 50 assets, which includes an interest in social housing group Keepmoat.

Sheridan said: 鈥淚 think Rob鈥檚 decision was as much of a surprise to Lloyds as it was to me. I don鈥檛 think he was getting a buzz from running the business anymore and wanted a new challenge. Rob鈥檚 a deep thinker; he鈥檚 talking about writing a book.鈥�

Sheridan denied that the fallout from the Office of Fair Trading鈥檚 investigation into bid-rigging had played a part in McGregor鈥檚 departure. Last week Apollo was fined 拢2.2m for anti-competitive activity; this was 11.8% of its last stated pre-tax profit.

Asked about the progress of the Lloyds sale, Sheridan said: 鈥淯BS is still doing its review of the portfolio, but there is no news at the moment. It doesn鈥檛 impinge on us at all and it is business as usual.鈥�

He said he would continue the company鈥檚 push into new areas of the UK and said the north-west of England was the next target area.