The chairman of Aviva Ireland, David Simpson, has resigned from the company, less than two months after the head of Aviva Health in Ireland, Jim Dowdall, left the insurance group.

David Simpson, the founder of Simpson Xavier, had been chairman of the company since mid-2008, having joined the board of Aviva Ireland, then Hibernian, in October 2007.

No comment was available from Aviva last night.

The departure of Mr Simpson is the latest in a a series of high-level resignations. Jim Dowdall resigned in March while Stuart Purdy, who was chief executive between 2007 and 2009 before taking up a senior European role with the company, left earlier this year to take up a position with rival insurance company RSA.

The head of Aviva Europe Andrea Moneta also stepped down earlier this year.

The latest exit comes as Aviva prepares to move its European headquarters from Dublin to London.