The company relocated to Wales in 1961, and later grew to become an international retail chain with in excess of 500 stores, selling a variety of clothing and household goods.

[5] Laura's inspiration to start producing printed fabric came from a Women's Institute display of traditional handicrafts at the Victoria & Albert Museum.

[4] The Ashleys' scarves quickly became successful with stores, retailing both via mail order and high street chains such as John Lewis.

[5] The new company moved to Kent in 1955, but the business was nearly wiped out in 1958, when the River Darent overflowed – leaving equipment, dyes, and fabrics floating in three feet of water.

As the new M4 Motorway had just been built, Laura suggested Wales as there was much space, and driving up the new road one weekend, found a suitable house and shop available for a sum below their residual savings in Machynlleth, Powys.

[7] A newspaper suggested that by donning a Laura Ashley number, women could look as beautiful as Katharine Ross in the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

[12] 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.

[13] Over the next two and a half years, Maxmin led a series of changes, addressing problems in manufacturing and logistics that foreshadowed principles of his later book, The Support Economy, co-authored with his wife, Harvard Business School Professor Shoshana Zuboff.

One of the most significant initiatives at this time was a strategic alliance with FedEx, forming a sort of proto-federation, aimed at improving distribution for close to 500 Laura Ashley stores.

The alliance replaced a legacy system that would route a T-shirt manufactured in Hong Kong to a warehouse in Newtown, Wales, before sending it to a retail store in Japan.

Laura Ashley plc celebrated its 40th anniversary in 1993, the same year that Sir Bernard retired as chairman and became honorary life president.

[15] But in early April 1994 Maxmin abruptly resigned from Laura Ashley, citing major differences with Sir Bernard over strategy.

[17] In May 1998, 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.

The company was criticised in 2009 for price discrepancies, which meant Irish customers were charged more than their UK counterparts for the same items, a situation which Laura Ashley justified.

[27] In 2011 the company was found to be in breach of fair employment conditions in a case raised in Northern Ireland and was required to pay compensation to the aggrieved employee.

[29] Some signs of weakness in the company were seen when in early 2016 Laura Ashley's Australian operations entered voluntary administration,[30] but they managed to trade out of the difficulties and in the event remained afloat for more than a further two years.

[33] New chairman Andrew Khoo was upbeat at the year's end, looking to expand Laura Ashley's online sales and perhaps later a physical presence in the Chinese market.

[35] 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.

[40] 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.

[42] That year Laura Ashley partnered with Mamas & Papas to design a line of baby clothing, nursery bedding, toys, and pushchairs.