Retail investment group Arev has taken a majority stake in luxury leather goods retailer Aspinal of London.

The Icelandic investors, whose other investments include Mountain Warehouse, Limeys, Blooming Marvellous, Jones Bootmaker and Hardy Amies, have injected an undisclosed sum into the online retailer, which is poised to raise its bricks-and-mortar profile.

Aspinal of London chairman Iain Burton told Retail Week that he will remain in his role at the company and forge ahead with plans to open two flagship standalone stores in London this year. The retailer is in the early stages of locating a site for a store in New York.

The retailer opened its first concession at Selfridges in London in October and will look to open at Harrods in “the near future”, as well as a “couple more” UK concessions.

Burton said that he wanted to build the company into a£40- to£60 million business by 2011 and that EBITDA was up 100 per cent on last year.

Burton said: “We are resonating with the market that wants design-led product at affordable prices.”

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