“London- Paris- New York-Carno” The list of prestige locations followed by the Powys village where Laura Ashley made her international headquarters said it all. She took her inspiration from her Welsh surroundings and created a style that appealed to millions of women from Orpington to Osaka.

Born at Merthyr Tydfil and brought up in London, she began designing and printing fabrics on her kitchen table. Laura’s husband Bernard was her also her partner in the business and played a major role in its success. Before long the first Laura Ashley shop was opened in Kensington.

As demand rocketed the Ashleys looked around for a manufacturing location, eventually settling on mid-Wales. Laura had long hankered to return to her native land and her designs increasingly reflected the rural tranquillity of an area she loved. They conjured up a bygone world of Victorian rectories, pressed flowers and unspoilt pastures.

To a fashion-buying public on the rebound from the modernist ‘sixties, the Laura Ashley look was of massive appeal. Concern about the environment and quality of life in an increasingly urbanised world had arrived. More than any other designer, Laura Ashley captured that mood.

The payback to mid-Wales was considerable. Major plants were opened at Carno and at Newtown. At one point the chain of factories stretched up to the North Wales coast and supplied 5,000 stores around the world.

At the very pinnacle of Laura and Bernard Ashley’s success, tragedy struck.

Laura fell downstairs while visiting her daughter and after ten days in hospital she died.

The planned flotation of the company went ahead- it was one of the most successful share launches the London Stock Exchange has seen. Bernard Ashley, who had played a major role in developing the Welsh manufacturing operations, was knighted in 1987.

Changing fashion tastes made the going harder for Laura Ashley PLC in the years that followed. Some factories closed and the shops were sold off. The company nevertheless remains a major Welsh employer and a living tribute to its founders.