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{{Short description|British textile design company}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Laura Ashley Holdings
| logo =
| type = [[Public company|Public]]
| industry = {{Unbulleted list|[[Home accessories]]|Furniture|Home decorating|Fashion|[[Hospitality industry|Hospitality]]}}<ref name="AR2018">{{cite web |url=https://www.lauraashley.com/file/general/laura_ashley_annual_report_2018_web.pdf |title=Annual Report 2018 |author=<!--Not stated--> |website
| fate = Sold to [[Gordon Brothers]]<ref name="Briggs">{{cite web |last1=Briggs |first1=Fiona |title=Investment firm, Gordon Brothers, acquires Laura Ashley brand |url=https://www.retailtimes.co.uk/investment-firm-gordon-brothers-acquires-laura-ashley-brand/ |website=Retail Times |access-date=3 December 2020 |date=22 April 2020}}</ref>
| predecessor = Ashley Mountney Ltd, 1954
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| key_people = {{Unbulleted list|Ng Kwan Cheong ([[Chief executive officer|CEO]])|[[Khoo Kay Peng]] ([[Chairman]])|Seán Anglim ([[Chief financial officer|Finance director]])}}<ref name="AR2018" />
| products =
| owner = Gordon Brothers Group<!-- or: | owners = -->
| num_employees =
| num_employees_year = <!-- Year of num_employees data (if known) -->
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[[File:HK TST K11 mall 20 shop Laura Ashley clothing.JPG|thumb|right|250px|Laura Ashley shop, Hong Kong]]
'''Laura Ashley
On 17 March 2020, the company filed for [[Administration in United Kingdom law|administration]]
==History==
===Origins===
[[Audrey Hepburn]] inadvertently sparked the growth of one of the world's most successful fashion and home furnishing companies. Hepburn appeared alongside [[Gregory Peck]] in the 1953 film ''[[Roman Holiday (1953 film)|Roman Holiday]]'', wearing a headscarf. As such a fashion icon, she instantly created a style that became popular around the globe.<ref name="Thorpe Guardian">{{cite news |title=How the florals and frills of Laura Ashley came to define an era |first=Vanessa |last=Thorpe |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/sep/16/how-laura-ashley-florals-and-frills-define-an-era |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=16 September 2018 |access-date=29 September 2019}}</ref> The Ashleys' scarves quickly became successful with stores, retailing both via [[mail order]] and high street chains such as [[John Lewis (department store)|John Lewis]].
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From 1953, Bernard left his city job and the couple began to expand the company, initially named Ashley Mountney Ltd incorporating Laura Ashley's maiden name.<ref name="UK Heritage" /> Laura designed the prints and Bernard built the printing equipment, so forging a complementary partnership that was to give the company its unique strength throughout the years. Laura remained in charge of design until shortly before her death, while Bernard handled the operational side.
Employing staff to cope with the growth of sales, the company name was changed to Laura Ashley because Bernard felt a woman's name was more appropriate for the type of products.<ref name=NewY />
===Expansion===
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The first shop under the Laura Ashley name opened in Pelham Street, [[South Kensington]], in 1968,<ref name="UK Heritage" /> with additional shops opened in [[Shrewsbury]] and [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] in 1970. In one week alone, London's [[Fulham Road]] shop sold 4,000 dresses<ref name="UK Heritage" /> – which resulted in the new factory in [[Newtown, Montgomeryshire]]. It was the opening of the [[Paris]] shop in 1974<ref name="UK Heritage" /> which was the first to feature the distinctive green frontage and stripped wooden interior; and in the same year the first U.S. shop opened in [[San Francisco]].<ref name="Slesin Obit">{{cite news |title=Laura Ashley, British designer, is dead at 60 |first=Suzanne |last=Slesin |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/09/18/world/laura-ashley-british-designer-is-dead-at-60.html |newspaper=[[New York Times]] |date=18 September 1985 |access-date=29 September 2019}}</ref> A licensing operation led to the opening of department store concessions in [[Australia]], [[Canada]], and [[Japan]] from 1971 onwards.<ref name="UK Heritage">{{cite web |url=https://www.lauraashley.com/en-gb/our-heritage |title=Our Heritage |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=Laura Ashley UK |publisher=Laura Ashley |access-date=29 September 2019 }}</ref>
By 1975, turnover was £5 million per year and the company employed 1,000 people worldwide. Laura turned down the offer of an [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] because her husband Bernard was not also offered the honour,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.famousfashiondesigners.org/laura-ashley |title=Laura Ashley |website=Famous Fashion Designers |access-date=30 September 2019}}</ref> but a [[Queen's Award for Export]] was accepted in 1977.<ref name="USA Heritage">{{cite web |url=https://www.lauraashleyusa.com/pages/heritage |title=Our Heritage |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=Laura Ashley USA |publisher=Laura Ashley |access-date=29 September 2019 }}</ref> Turnover reached £25 million in 1979, and a range of perfume was launched.<ref name="USA Heritage" /> The addition of a home in France enabled Laura to go back to her roots of fabric design, and the company launched its home furnishings collections. At one point the company was the largest employer in north Powys, with an excess of 13,000 staff in 500 shops and 13 factories according the BBC.<ref name=bbc /> In 1982 the book ''The Laura Ashley Book of Home Decorating'' was published.<ref name=NewY />
By the time of Laura Ashley's death in 1985, the company had over 220 stores around the world, employed over 4,000 people and turned over US$130 million annually.<ref name="Slesin Obit" /> The ''[[New York Times]]'' wrote of Ashley’s style of fashion: “With their high necks, full skirts, mutton sleeves and lace and ruffle adornments, these dresses, along with prim pin-tucked cotton blouses, lace-trimmed nightgowns and grosgrain-ribbon-tied hats, solidified the ‘Laura Ashley look.’”<ref name=NewY />
Two months after Laura Ashley's death in 1985, Laura Ashley Holdings plc went public in a flotation that was 34 times oversubscribed.<ref name="USA Heritage" /> That same year, the first store in Japan was opened in Tokyo.<ref name="Japan Story">{{cite web |url=https://lauraashley-jp.com/story/ |title=Story: ブランドヒストリー (Story: Brand history) |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=Laura Ashley Japan |date=14 June 2019 |publisher=Laura Ashley |access-date=29 September 2019 }}</ref> Chairman Bernard Ashley accepted a knighthood in 1987, the same year in which the company opened a new factory, called Texplan, for printing fabrics and wallpapers, and launched new child and home furnishings ranges.<ref name="USA Heritage" />
In the early 1990s, Laura Ashley plc was suffering from a combination of over expansion of its retail outlets and dependence on what had become an overly complex and costly outsourced network of manufacturers. In 1991, American
In 1992, Maxmin led Laura Ashley to its first profits since 1989, and in 1993 profits were expected to reach £12 million. Laura Ashley plc celebrated its 40th anniversary in 1993, the same year that Sir Bernard retired as chairman and became honorary life president.<ref name="Wilkinson Independent" /> But in early April 1994 Maxmin abruptly resigned from Laura Ashley, citing major differences with Sir Bernard over strategy.<ref name="Wilkinson Independent">{{cite news |title=Maxmin quits Laura Ashley: Chief executive resigns after ongoing dispute over need to increase spending |first=Terence |last=Wilkinson |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/maxmin-quits-laura-ashley-chief-executive-resigns-after-ongoing-dispute-over-need-to-increase-1369773.html |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |date=13 April 1994 |access-date=29 September 2019}}</ref> Over the next five years, four individuals were given the Chief Executive role in quick succession in an attempt to find a solution to the growing financial difficulties of the company, during which time the company's bankers became increasingly concerned.<ref name="Grant Cases 2003" /> A new source of finance was desperately needed, and this was found in 1998 in a new relationship with the Malaysian MUI Group. Laura Ashley closed its last rural factory in Wales in 1999.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3mm16r1K7RcC&dq=Laura+Ashley&pg=PA172 |page=171 |title= The Next Rural Economies: Constructing Rural Place in Global Economies |publisher=CABI |year=2009 |author= David Bruce, Greg Halseth, Sean Patrick Markey|isbn=9781845935825 }}</ref>
In May 1998, [[MUI Group|MUI Asia Limited]] became a major shareholder in Laura Ashley Holdings plc and under the new management, this world famous international brand was back in profit. Rescued from the receivers in 1998, 58 per cent of the shares are believed to be controlled directly or indirectly by the company's chairman Dr [[Khoo Kay Peng]].<ref>[http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/business.cfm?id=1663342005 The Scotsman<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213170612/http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/business.cfm?id=1663342005 |date=2007-12-13 }}</ref> Part of the rescue of the parent company involved selling off the United States operations for the sum of $1, the buyer being a company also controlled by MUI.<ref>{{cite news |title=Laura Ashley sells US stores for $1 |first=Nigel |last=Cope |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/laura-ashley-sells-us-stores-for-1-1090332.html |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |date=29 April 1999 |access-date=29 September 2019}}</ref> All retail stores were subsequently closed and the Laura Ashley brand is now represented in the USA through its e-commerce business.
Laura Ashley experienced several setbacks in the early years of the new century. In October 2002 it launched a £18m lawsuit against [[L'Oréal]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Ashley's £18m suit | url=https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/ashleys-18m-suit |newspaper=[[British Vogue|Vogue UK]] |date=21 October 2002 |access-date=29 September 2019}}</ref> which manufactured the Laura Ashley perfumes; Laura Ashley was eventually awarded a reduced amount of damages, which however did not even cover the legal costs of the suit.<ref>{{cite news |title=Laura Ashley awarded £2.9m in L'Oreal dispute | url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/business/laura-ashley-awarded-29m-in-loreal-dispute-287455.html |newspaper=[[Irish Examiner]] |date=1 December 2006 |access-date=29 September 2019}}</ref> By 2003 Laura Ashley closed all of its North American stores in order to focus on the UK market.<ref name=NewY /> A positive direction seemed to be underway early in 2004 with the establishment of a relationship with Scottish couture designer [[Alistair Blair (designer)|Alistair Blair]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Laura Ashley gets makeover from Scots design guru | url=https://www.scotsman.com/news-2-15012/laura-ashley-gets-makeover-from-scots-design-guru-1-530436 |newspaper=[[The Scotsman]] |date=10 May 2004 |access-date=29 September 2019}}</ref> who had previously designed for [[Christian Dior SE|Dior]] and [[Givenchy]], and soon afterwards the company posted a profit compared with the loss of the previous year,<ref>{{cite news |title=Laura Ashley moves back to profit | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3649153.stm |newspaper=[[BBC News]] |date=22 April 2004 |access-date=29 September 2019}}</ref> especially on the back of an expansion of home furnishing sales although clothing sales continued to decline. However, by the end of the year the arrangement with Blair was terminated. Laura Ashley closed its flagship store on London's Regent Street in late 2005 because of rent increases.<ref>{{cite news |title=West End loses Laura Ashley shop | url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2005/jun/22/3 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=22 June 2005 |access-date=29 September 2019}}</ref>
Despite these issues, profitability seemed to be returning to the company in the years immediately prior to the 2007 [[Financial crisis of 2007–2008|Global Financial Crisis]]. Profits for 2005 stood at £6.1 million, and this figure was doubled in 2006 to £12.2 million,<ref>{{cite news |title=Laura Ashley posts its best results in 10 years |first=Fiona |last=Walsh |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/mar/28/4 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=28 March 2007 |access-date=30 September 2019}}</ref> representing the strongest performance since the MUI buyout. Both fashion and home accessories were attributed as strong areas for the company at this time.
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Setbacks were also experienced in the UK operation. In December 2018 it was announced that 40 stores would close due to poor trading conditions.<ref>{{cite news |title=Laura Ashley to close 40 stores across UK |first=Sabrina |last=Barr |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/laura-ashley-store-list-close-uk-china-expansion-retail-a8686461.html |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |date=17 December 2018 |access-date=29 September 2019}}</ref> In February 2019, anticipated poor performance for the financial year was flagged, though an expansion of online sales and hospitality ventures were identified as areas of growth.<ref>{{cite news |title=Laura Ashley warns on full-year results in 'turbulent market' |first=Myles |last=McCormick |url=https://www.ft.com/content/211a9e2c-34df-11e9-bb0c-42459962a812 |newspaper=[[Financial Times]] |date=20 February 2019 |access-date=29 September 2019}}</ref> In August 2019 an expanded annual loss was announced, brought about by declining sales of traditional mainstay products even as new ventures in tearooms and hotels were expanding.<ref>{{cite news |title=Laura Ashley plunges to £14m annual loss |first=David |last=Parsley |url=https://inews.co.uk/news/business/laura-ashley-plunges-to-14m-annual-loss-495365 |newspaper=[[iNews]] |date=22 August 2019 |access-date=29 September 2019}}</ref>
In 2020, immediately following the COVID-19 outbreak, Laura Ashley said it would file for administration
==Gordon Brothers management==
On 22 April 2020, it was announced that investment firm [[Gordon Brothers]] had acquired the Laura Ashley brand name, archives and intellectual property rights out of administration.<ref name="Briggs"/> In October 2020, it was announced that Laura Ashley would return with a flagship store in the Westfield Shopping Centre in West London in 2021 through [[Next plc|Next]]'s 500 UK stores & website, and with a series of new stores.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Smithers |first1=Rebecca |title=Laura Ashley returns to UK high street after deal with Next |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/oct/31/laura-ashley-returns-to-uk-high-street-after-deal-with-next |website=The Guardian |access-date=3 December 2020 |language=en |date=31 October 2020}}</ref> That year they also released a collaborated line with dressmaker [[Batsheva Hay|Batsheva]].<ref name=NewY />
In 2022 they partnered with IMG to reestablish their presence in China, India, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East.<ref name=Drape /> That year Laura Ashley partnered with Mamas & Papas to design a line of baby clothing, nursery bedding, toys, and pushchairs.<ref name="Drape">{{Cite web |last=Weston |first=Sabina |date=2022-06-30 |title=Laura Ashley to collaborate with Mamas & Papas |url=https://www.drapersonline.com/news/laura-ashley-to-collaborate-with-mamas-papas |access-date=2023-06-07 |website=Drapers |language=en}}</ref> They also partnered with Baggu on a line of bags,<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Laura Ashley unveils bag line with Baggu |url=https://us.fashionnetwork.com/news/Laura-ashley-unveils-bag-line-with-baggu,1492841.html |access-date=2023-06-07 |website=FashionNetwork.com |language=en-US}}</ref> and partnered with companies Graham & Brown as well as Ashley Wilde.<ref> {{Cite news |last= |first= |last2= |date=2023-01-31 |title=Poppy Marshall-Lawton: bringing Laura Ashley back into fashion |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jan/31/poppy-marshall-lawton-bringing-laura-ashley-back-into-fashion |access-date=2023-06-07 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> By the end of 2022, there were 600 retailers that had Laura Ashley in stock alongside its own stores, and the company had a portfolio of in excess of 3000 products.<ref name="FN">{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Laura Ashley heads to 70th anniversary after year in which UK sales soared |url=https://ww.fashionnetwork.com/news/Laura-ashley-heads-to-70th-anniversary-after-year-in-which-uk-sales-soared,1467388.html |access-date=2023-06-07 |website=FashionNetwork.com |language=en-WW}}</ref>
In 2023 the company celebrated its 70th anniversary with events including a quilt exhibition and heritage exhibit held in Newtown, Wales.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-09 |title=Plans to honour design icon Laura Ashley with heritage hub in Powys town |url=https://www.countytimes.co.uk/news/23308196.plans-laura-ashley-heritage-hub-newtown-powys/ |access-date=2023-06-07 |website=County Times |language=en}}</ref> A heritage plaque was laid by the City of Newtown discussing the company’s founding as a part of the event.<ref name="bbc">{{Cite news |date=2023-03-09 |title=Laura Ashley: Plaque celebrates designer's Welsh roots |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-64896532 |access-date=2023-06-07}}</ref> That year Laura Ashley partnered for a new line with [[Lucky Brand Jeans| Lucky Brand]]. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Palmieri |first=Jean E. |date=2023-03-09 |title=Lucky Brand Partners With Laura Ashley on Capsule Collection |url=https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/lucky-brand-laura-ashley-on-capsule-collection-jeans-1235575197/ |access-date=2023-06-07 |website=WWD |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Senior management==
===Chief Executive Officers===
{{Unbulleted list| 1976–1990 – John James | 1991–1993 – Jim Maxmin | 1983–1995 – A. Schouten | 1995–1997 – Ann Iverson | 1997–1998 – David Hoare | 1998–1999 – Victoria Egan |
}}</ref>}}
==References==
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