Laura Ashley dips a toe in the spa world

LAURA Ashley’s new chairman has revealed that the company is planning its first spa and a string of hotels abroad.

Andrew Khoo Boo Yeow, 46, who took over from his father last week, is also executive chairman at MUI which owns 35 per cent of the British homewares chain.

He told The Mail on Sunday that a spa treatment centre will open next year at Laura Ashley’s Belsfield hotel in Windermere. Its first overseas hotel is likely to open either in a site owned by MUI in Tasmania or in Asia.

‘The business is going through a transformation,’ he said. ‘We want to create a full lifestyle experience for the brand – from tea rooms, food gifts in the shops and adding spas in the hotels. It’s all about pampering – women like to pamper themselves and look after their health. So we want to give them a retreat where they can get away, but customised so that the products they use have that Laura Ashley touch to them.’

Neil Craven