Katharine Poulter

Laura Ashley Holdings Plc engaged in the design, sourcing, distribution, and selling clothing accessories and home furnishings. It offers furniture products, including beds, upholstered furniture, mirrors and cabinet furniture; home accessories, including lighting, gifts, bed linen and soft furnishings; decorating products, including curtains, blinds, fabric, paint, decorative accessories and wall coverings; and fashion products, including perfume bottles, old water color paintings, ceramics and pottery and gardening tools. The company was founded by Laura Ashley and Bernard Albert Ashley in 1953 and was headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Wilko Retail Ltd. operates hardware stores. It offers discount chain, sells homewares and household goods. The company was founded by J.K. Wilkinson in 1930 and is headquartered in Worksop, the United Kingdom.

Laura Ashley, one of the world's best-loved fashion and home furnishings companies comes from humble beginnings. Laura and Bernard Ashley started printing fabric on their kitchen table in London in 1953, following a Women's Institute exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum on traditional handicrafts. Laura was inspired to make her own patchwork quilts, but couldn't find any suitable fabrics in the shops, so the young enterprising couple decided to try producing their own. A £10 investment in wood for a screen, dyes and some linen, along with many trips to libraries to learn everything about fabric printing, kick started their fledgling attempts. At first they produced small squares with geometric patterns, which reflected the limited space in their tiny flat.