The board announced she would step down today and thanked her for helping drive growth at the business.

Worthington was promoted to COO just eight months ago from the post of finance director, which she held for nearly four years.

Before, she spent nearly 14 years at Quintain as both finance director and deputy chief executive.

The news came as Countryside unveiled strong trading in the first half, with completions up 43% to 2,362 homes.

Countryside’s  modular timber frame factory in Warrington commenced full production last month and is on track to deliver around 500 homes in the current financial year with production capacity of up to 1,500 homes per annum.

Forward orders were also up by nearly half to £1bn putting Countryside on track to deliver full-year expectations.

The partnership homes division delivered a 61% uplift in completions, mainly due to the acquisition of Westleigh.

House building business completions were broadly flat in the period, as expected, at 473 homes, although the division enjoyed a strong period of securing work.

Homes England selected Countryside to deliver 769 homes across two new developments at Burgess Hill, West Sussex and Tattenhoe, Milton Keynes,  while the firm secured an option over 1,000 units in Tangmere, West Sussex, supporting our future delivery in this region

Ian Sutcliffe, group chief executive, said: “Despite the wider political and macroeconomic uncertainty, demand for mixed-tenure homes remains strong and we have enjoyed a robust spring selling season.

“With our modular timber frame factory now operational, we continue to be well positioned to deliver on our geographic expansion.

“With excellent visibility of future work, we remain confident of delivering our medium-term growth plans.”