Mike Yardley is to leave his role as group chief executive of Royal London.

Yardley has been the head of the UK’s largest mutual life and pensions company since 1998. He will leave when a successor has been appointed.

Yardley said: “I am confident that Royal London is in an excellent position to continue to grow profitably for the benefit of our members and I believe this is an appropriate time to start the search for the person to lead the company in its next phase of development.