Hatched, the online agent founded by Adam Day and sold to Connells Group two years ago, is now being led by David Martin, who has been with Connells since 2010 as part of the senior management team.

Martin was appointed chief operating officer of Hatched almost a year ago and will now take up the reins, Day said.

Day – whose departure EYE revealed yesterday and who is currently on a break at home – said:” I’ve had the most wonderful time at Hatched. I’ve given everything I could possibly give and now is the right time to move on.

“We were pioneers of the ‘online’ estate agency model and grew organically to be one of the biggest online estate agents in the UK, eventually becoming the first in the UK to be acquired by a major ‘bricks & mortar’ estate agency – I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved since 2006.

“I hope our industry continues to innovate, push the technology boundaries and, most importantly, give the customer a fantastic experience.

“I’d like to put on record my thanks to Connells Group and the many people who have helped with the transition over the last two years.

“I’ve learnt a huge amount from an extremely talented group of people and I have the utmost respect for everyone at Connells and the business they run. To have been part of Connells has been something I’ll never forget and I’ll take many of the new skills I’ve learnt into any future projects.

“I’d like to say a special thanks to the executive board at Connells, who have been incredibly supportive and allowed me to run the business as I saw fit over the last two years.

“We’ve been planning this for nearly a year now, having appointed David Martin as chief operating officer in August last year.

“David has a rich history at Connells and will now take the reins at Hatched and help to move the business on to even bigger and better things. I leave the company in extremely good hands and I will watch the growth of Hatched with interest over the coming years.

“Lastly, I can’t thank enough the colleagues, staff and many thousands of customers that I’ve worked with over the last 11 years. They are the ones who have believed in my message and driven it forward, creating the history at Hatched, that we can all look back on so proudly.”