Lord Harris's son on Carpetright board

Martin Harris, the 28-year-old son of Lord Harris of Peckham, has been appointed to the main board of Carpetright, his father's retail empire. Mr Harris junior has been moved up from marketing manager and will take his seat on the board next week. Educated at Curry University in Boston, he was a director of Harvey's Furnishings, another Harris business, for three years before joining Carpetright in 1991. He has gradually been groomed for promotion and has been introduced to analysts and the press at recent City presentations.

Lord Harris was not available yesterday to answer any charges of nepotism. However, John Kitching, sales director, said: "Martin was largely responsible for the successful development of our new Carpet Depot format and his marketing flair will provide a valuable contribution to the future growth of the company."