Waterford Wedgwood's chairman, Dr Tony O'Reilly, has strengthened his position at the group. His son, Mr Tony O'Reilly jnr, has been appointed deputy chief executive at its ceramics company Wedgwood.
Dr O'Reilly and his associates own 27 per cent of the luxury goods group and Mr Tony O'Reilly jnr (33) has been a member of Waterford Wedgwood's board since 1998.
He is leaving the post of chief executive at mining company Arcon but will remain as non-executive chairman at the firm. Arcon is developing the Galmoy lead and zinc mine in Co Kilkenny.
His successor at Arcon will be appointed tomorrow, according to one informed person.
When asked whether Mr Tony O'Reilly jnr's move was planned to consolidate Dr O'Reilly's position at Waterford Wedgwood, its president and chief operations officer Mr Redmond O'Donoghue said: "You always get those allegations, but these guys are bright too and he's got a lot of achievement behind him. I very much welcome this."
He added: "Tony O'Reilly jnr knows our business. I think he's the right age with a lot of achievements and a can-do attitude."
Mr O'Reilly jnr will work with Wedgwood's chief executive, Mr Brian Patterson.
Waterford Wedgwood is restructuring under Mr O'Donoghue, Waterford Crystal's former chief executive. It wants to focus on strategic growth, changing its previous system where managers at its four divisions pursued individual strategies.
Mr O'Donoghue claimed Mr Tony O'Reilly jnr would help the company generate increased business among younger people. "We have to appeal to people under the age of 25 and 30 and I think he'll play a large role there."
The group, which wants to double by 2005, signalled in September that it wanted to acquire luxury goods companies - possibly in the watch and leather industries. It had earmarked $100$200 million (€116.71E233.43 million) for this purpose, Mr O'Donoghue said.
When asked whether any deals were imminent, he said: "The time has come to move beyond crystal and ceramics. I hope we won't be much older before we do initiate dialogue with somebody."
The group is targeting market-led firms with strong brands and good growth prospects. In August it paid €10.2 million for German porcelain firm Hutschenreuther.
