Gerry Kay has stepped down as chief executive of Scottish Building Society in a quiet handover to chief operating officer Mark Thomson.

The society has made no announcement of the departure of Mr Kay, who has headed up Scotland's surviving mutual building society since 2007.

A month ago, SBS successfully defended a £1m action in the Court of Session for breach of contract over a failed soccer savings scheme, though the judge said there was "no substance" in Mr Kay's claim he had been induced to enter into the deal by misrepresentation.

The scheme's promoters SSSL are now appealing against the judgment.

Mr Kay confirmed last night he had left the business and was taking a family holiday break.

He said: "I am 63 now, we won the court case, we have just had a successful takeover of Century building society, and Mark Thomson was brought in as my successor 13 months ago. I have just decided to spend more time with my family, and probably take on a couple of non-executive roles."

On whether there had been any pressure resulting from the disclosures in the court case, Mr Kay said: "None at all. I was always confident and our QC was always confident we would get there; it was a long 21 months, and I was hanging on to make sure we got through that and we did."

In his judgment last month, Lord Hodge said Mr Kay had failed to establish that he had been misled before agreeing to hand over a £250,000 commission payment to the scheme's promoters.

He said Mr Kay had set a £5m target for soccer savings deposits by December 2011, by which time they had reached £440,000.

The mutual society, which made a £799,000 profit last year, had been threatened with a £1m bill after terminating the five-year contract after one year.

Mr Kay, who earned a £99,800 salary last year and total remuneration of £146,511, said he was proud of his record at the Scottish over the past five to six years, saying: "The society is in a hugely stronger position."

Assets have grown from £296m to £388m, and reserves by £2m to £26.5m, since 2009.

Mr Thomson joined the society in February last year. A spokeswoman said his appointment as chief executive was awaiting formal approval by the regulator.