MUI Asia management
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.[17] 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.[18] 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,[19] 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.[20] By 2003, Laura Ashley closed all of its North American stores in order to focus on the UK market.[5] A positive direction seemed to be underway early in 2004 with the establishment of a relationship with Scottish couture designer Alistair Blair,[21] who had previously designed for Dior and Givenchy, and soon afterwards the company posted a profit compared with the loss of the previous year,[22] 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.[23]
Despite these issues, profitability seemed to be returning to the company in the years immediately prior to the 2008 financial crisis. Profits for 2005 stood at £6.1 million, and this figure was doubled in 2006 to £12.2 million,[24] representing the strongest performance since the MUI buyout. Both fashion and home accessories were attributed as strong areas for the company at this time.
There were some areas of concern emerging at the start of the 2008 financial crisis. 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.[25] The following year the company was involved in an acrimonious industrial dispute, again in the Republic of Ireland.[26] 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.[27] In 2012, the company responded with complacency to a significant number of negative online consumer reviews, pointing to improving sales and profitability figures, but the Financial Times, perhaps somewhat prophetically, commented "Laura Ashley may be right to shrug off online criticism. However, no company can expect to do well for ever. Web reviews, particularly when many persistently repeat the same complaints, may indicate looming difficulties".[28]
Some signs of weakness in the company were seen when, in early 2016, Laura Ashley's Australian operations entered voluntary administration,[29] but they managed to trade out of the difficulties and in the event remained afloat for more than a further two years.
There were some changes and pull-backs for Laura Ashley internationally in 2018. Early in the year, the long-standing relationship with Japanese company Aeon was terminated by Aeon due to reduced profitability of their Laura Ashley operations.[30] All 120 stores in Japan closed in September that year. However, as the Aeon relationship was expiring in September 2018, it was announced that the Master Licence arrangement previously with Aeon had been taken up by the large Itochu Corporation which already had diverse interests in the textiles field. Itochu announced that they intended to "expand the offering at major department stores [and] specialty stores ... and showcase the appeal of the brand to new customer groups through an official e-commerce site and directly managed shops ... with target retail sales of 8.0 billion yen in three years".[31]
At the very end of the year, Laura Ashley Australia suddenly went into administration, and when no buyer for the operation was found, all stores across Australia, as well as the online business, ceased operating at the end of 2018.[32] 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.[33]
Setbacks were also experienced in the UK operation. In December 2018, it was announced that 40 stores would close due to poor trading conditions.[34] 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.[35] 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.[36]
In 2020, immediately following the COVID-19 outbreak, Laura Ashley said it would file for administration.[37] According to Sky News, the company became one of the first large UK companies to do so as a result of the pandemic.[38] At this time, the company had 150 retail locations.[39]
