“It’s been 18 years since I started in the basement of Marylebone Road [Carphone Warehouse’s original base]. We have been on an incredible journey,” Andrew Harrison told analysts last week.

Andrew Harrison

“The question is - where is that next journey?”

Carphone Warehouse last week revealed its charismatic lifer Andrew Harrison will next month step up to become group chief executive from his role as chief executive of Carphone Warehouse Europe.

Founder Charles Dunstone described the reshuffle, which sees Harrison’s predecessor Roger Taylor become deputy chairman, as “the most elegant way of putting all three of us on the pitch”.

Taylor will focus on global business development while Harrison will continue to keep a handle on running the day-to-day.

Although the well-established trio may treat the move as business as usual, Harrison’s promotion is symbolic of a landmark year for him, which included his beloved Wigan Athletic winning the FA Cup.

“I was parallel with the goal when it went in in the final, it was fantastic,” he recounts to Retail Week.

Harrison will hope success doesn’t come before failure like it did with Wigan - they were relegated just three days after their Wembley triumph. The 42-year-old has rolled up his sleeves and is ready to take the helm at a business battling a sluggish economy and fiercely competitive marketplace.

Carphone last week reported flat profits and a 4.6% rise in full-year group like-for-like sales buoyed by strong tablet trade.

Harrison has carved out an impressive career at the business. After leaving Leeds University with a business degree in 1992, he joined his father, an ex-window cleaner, in working at a factory manufacturing furnace elements.

After a short stint with consultancy Bridgewater Business Analysis, which Carphone Warehouse was a client of, Dunstone brought Harrison in house with the retailer, which then had 27 stores - it now has 2,500 across Europe.

The firm’s founder, who Harrison describes as the retailer’s “guiding light”, nicknamed Harrison ‘Stat’ after sports pundit Angus “Statto” Loughran as the northerner became an expert in the business’ figures while doing the company’s weekly accounts.

He became commercial director for the UK in 1998 and stepped up to become UK chief executive shortly after the firm floated in 2001. He joined the board five years later and was instrumental in the retailer’s partnership with US giant Best Buy.

Harrison pinpoints Carphone’s stateside adventure as one of the proudest moments of his career. “Our first store in America in 2006 was something special. Walking down Fifth Avenue and seeing your life’s work in another country and people appreciating what you do was incredible.”

With its European joint venture now concluded, as Best Buy retrenched to the US, he will be keen to develop the business in a more agile manner.

Harrison, who is also a member of the advisory board to mobile banking and payments service Monitise Group, is now tasked with creating a new era on the continent for Carphone.

A key part of this will be tie-ups with other retailers and Carphone last week revealed it is to roll out its existing trial partnerships with Metro Group in Germany and the Netherlands.

However, Harrison faces a number of challenges. At home, the tablet market remains competitive, and he will lead the retailer’s withdrawal from France, a country with a viciously competitive mobile market, which will cost £30m.

So what will Harrison’s mantra be in his new role? “To continue to think anything is possible. We still consider ourselves the underdog and we have achieved a lot by doing what customers want but also trying new ideas,” he says.

Away from the job, Harrison is a big tennis fan and is busily organising a tournament at the historic Queen’s Club for the mobile phone industry to take place later this month. Dunstone is representing Talk Talk in a stellar line up boasting Google and Virgin too.

Harrison hopes he can serve up an ace to smash his rivals off the court.

Career history

2013 Carphone Warehouse, group chief executive

2010 Best Buy Europe, chief operating officer

2009 Carphone Warehouse, European chief executive

2001 Carphone Warehouse, UK chief executive

1998 Carphone Warehouse, commercial director

1995 Carphone Warehouse, strategy manager

1993 to 1995 Bridgewater Business Analysis, consultant