Former House of Fraser exec Stefan Cassar joins Amara Living as chair

Cassar will replace Andrew Curran, who will take on a non-executive position, and joins the retailer after it raised £3.4m from a share issue ahead of further expansion.

Amara Living has appointed Cassar for his wealth of experience, which spans more than 25 years.

Cassar was part of the Highland Group consortium that bought House of Fraser for £351m in November 2006 and acted as chief finance officer for a year before leaving the department store to pursue other investment opportunities.

Prior to that Cassar joined The Shoe Studio group in 1999, before completing a management buyout of the business in 2001.

In 2004, the business went on to acquire fashion chains Warehouse and Principles. The merged business, known as Rubicon Retail, was subsequently sold in 2006.

Amara chief executive Andrew Hood said: “His experience and expertise will be invaluable as we move into the next phase of growth. We have an exciting journey ahead of us and will be continuing to build the brand both in the UK and internationally.

“Our strategy is to increase our brand offering for our customers, continue to grow our international sales and further develop our leading ecommerce and customer platforms.”

Amara Living increased sales 59% to £5.3m for the year ending December 31, 2014 and forecasts annual sales to reach at least £9m for 2015.

The retailer operates 11 international websites, including the US, France and Australia and international sales account for about 45% of overall sales.