Carpetright Founder Says Son Will Take His Place

Lord Harris of Peckham, founder of Carpetright, plans to step down as chief executive in a year and install his son at the helm of the flooring retailer.

The 65-year-old Harris, who failed to take Carpetright private last year after Royal Bank of Scotland pulled the plug on financing an £850m buyout, said Martin Harris should succeed him after the company has weathered one of the toughest retail climates in decades.

“The city and the banks were quite happy for Martin [currently commercial director] to be chief executive,” said Lord Harris.

He added: “I think I’ll stay here for another year to give him more experience. I don’t want to throw him in at the deep end when there is a downturn in retail.”

In another sign of a shake-up at the group, Ian Kenyon, finance director, is also leaving.

Lord Harris said the company’s gross margin continued to increase and he was confident of meeting analysts’ expectations.

However, he added that Carpetright would be winning market share at the expense of smaller specialists who were already going bankrupt. “I think it’s going to be a bloody tough time,” he said. “I think it’s going to be as tough probably as [19]89 or [19]74.”