The former boss of Rightmove, Nick McKittrick, has been appointed CEO of Swiss portal homegate.ch

McKittrick caused some sensation last year when he announced that he would be stepping down from Rightmove after four years as its CEO while still only in his forties.

News of his departure caused the share price to fall over 180p on the announcement in February 2017.

However, the hand-over to Peter Brooks-Johnson appeared to be smooth and McKittrick left last summer after 16 years at Rightmove, which he helped to co-found.

Shortly afterwards, it was announced that McKittrick had joined the board of homegate.

It has now been announced that McKittrick is to take charge of homegate which, like Rightmove, is the leading property portal in its own country. It is not thought he has moved to Switzerland, a spokesperson for the company said this morning.

He succeeds Axel Konjack who has left the company.

Homegate is owned by Tamedia, whose head of classifieds and marketplaces Christoph Brand said: “In Nick McKittrick we are gaining an absolutely top-notch executive with an exceptional background. Nick helped create Rightmove, the largest property player in the UK today.”