House of Fraser strengthens board

House of Fraser has promoted Mark Gifford to chief finance officer and appointed Colin Porter, its commercial director to the board.

Gifford joined House of Fraser in 2002 as director of financial services. He will join the board and replaces Stefan Cassar. Cassar, who was a key member of the Baugur-led buy out of House of Fraser last year, will leave the business to pursue new opportunities. However Cassar will retain a position on the board as non-executive director and will continue to be an investor in the department store group.

Porter, who worked at the department store under the previous management team, will also join the board with immediate effect.

House of Fraser chairman Don McCarthy said: "House of Fraser is embarking on a new and exciting phase of growth and I am pleased to announce that Mark Gifford will be our new chief finance officer. He brings a wealth of knowledge of the retail sector to the company, and we look forward to working with him in continuing to build on the success of House of Fraser. The appointment of Colin Porter to the board is another exciting addition to the senior management team." 

Mccarthy added: "Stefan Cassar was part of the consortium that acquired House of Fraser back in November 2006 and agreed to stay with us for one year to work on putting our strategy in place. I would like to thank him for his many contributions in bringing the Group to where we are today. Stefan has been an invaluable asset over the last 12 months and his experience and expertise will be missed by everyone. This is not a farewell to Stefan, however, as he will continue to part of the board as a non-executive director and investor in the business. We wish him all the best in his new adventures."