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Fiona McBain has announced that she is stepping down as chief executive of financial services group Scottish Friendly after 11 years.

The Glasgow-based financial mutual said Ms McBain was leaving to "look for new opportunities and challenges".

She will be succeeded by the current deputy chief executive, Jim Galbraith, on 1 January.

Since Ms McBain took over as chief executive in 2006, the mutual's assets have grown more than 500% to £2.5bn.

Membership has also increased by more than 100,000 to nearly 500,000.

Ms McBain said: "I am extremely proud of what we have achieved together at Scottish Friendly.

"With a great staff of less than 100 people, our strategy has reaped huge rewards in terms of assets and scale for Scottish Friendly policyholders.

"For me another tangible sign of our progress is that when I started as CEO I was often greeted by industry consultants with 'Scottish who?', but these days the opening line is usually 'What is Scottish Friendly up to now?'."

Mr Galbraith said: "Fiona has been at the helm of Scottish Friendly through one of the most difficult periods in the history of the financial services industry.

"It is a testament to her patience, strategic vision and her ability to inspire others that over this period the Scottish Friendly Group has continued to strengthen and grow."

Scottish Friendly chairman Michael Walker added: "We respect and understand her decision after 11 years in charge to look for new opportunities and challenges but we shall still miss her."