The housing and support services provider has promoted Charlie Dickson to take over the role on temporary basis after the former stepped down following nine years in the role.

Mr Dickson joined Bield in 2005 and will make the step up from director of customer services until the search for a permanent successor is concluded.

He said: “From the day I started at Bield, I’ve loved working somewhere where all the staff share the same passion to make the lives of Scotland’s older people better.

“So I feel lucky that I’m able to take over from Brian, albeit on a temporary basis, to ensure everything continues to run smoothly as we move forward into a new chapter of our history.

“Our ‘Free to Be’ values still stand firm and our people will be at the heart of everything we do as we try to shape a Scotland where people of all ages make their own choices and live life to the full.”

One of the key roles for both Mr Dickson and the next permanent Bield chief executive will be to implement Bield’s five-year business strategy which aims to position it as the leading provider of affordable, quality homes and services for Scotland’s older generation.

Brian Logan left the role after 14 years with Bield to take up a new challenge as chief executive of Capability Scotland.

Bield was founded over 40 years ago with one housing development in Bo’ness and is now a major provider of a wide range of housing and services for older people across 23 local authorities.

It plans to grow over the next five years by developing more flexibility into the support it provides and tailoring it to people’s bespoke needs.

This will be done by providing access to new technology and building upon its home care offering.

Mr Dickson added: “We’ve an incredibly hard working and talented team of local managers and staff around the country who are full of ideas about how to improve service offerings in their areas.

“It’ll be great to work with them until a permanent replacement is found to help ensure that older people have the freedom to live their lives as they want.”