Name: Laura Tenison
As the founder and Managing Director of JoJo Maman Bébé, Laura has grown the company organically from its start-up in 1993 to become the UK’s foremost multi-channel specialist in the pregnancy and baby market. Offering fashionable maternity wear, a Breton inspired children’s collection and original nursery products, gifts and toys, JoJo offers everything you need from pregnancy to pre-school.
Laura Tenison previously ran a small fashion company before setting up a French property business based in Brittany. When she sold this venture, her aim was to bring Breton nautical style home and offer practical and affordable fashion for mothers and babies.
With real time sales via all channels; the website, 200 page catalogue and 32 stores, JoJo offers a truly multi-channel service. The company continues to expand organically via retail roll-out & e-commerce.
With start-up capital of just £50,000, Laura has grown the company with limited bank borrowing and no dilution of equity to a forecast gross turnover of £26M in the current financial year (ending June 2011).
Her business ethos is based on a strong code of ethical business practice, where people and the planet are ranked higher on the agenda than bottom line profit. The company prides itself on its longstanding employees with the majority of the founding members still part of the team. Emphasis is placed upon the service offered to customers and the value for money in the product. This ethos permeates through the company and has established the brand in the eyes of the consumer as a business to trust.
Laura Tenison is a trustee of the company charity, Nema, based in Mozambique. The tie-in was initiated to ensure that company donations make a real difference to the lives of less fortunate children and to reduce infant mortality in this extremely poor area of Africa. ‘Nema’, (registered charity number 1113131) which translates as “happiness after hardship” is currently receiving assistance from JoJo in the form of UK administration, bookkeeping, funding of charity overheads, ongoing in-house donations and fundraising. This year Nema, with the assistance of JoJo, will build and support a school in rural Mozambique and provide 90 children with secondary school scholarships, as well as funding other projects relating to health, water and orphans.
Last summer Laura cycled from the JoJo Design Studio in London to the head office in Wales with her 10 year old son. The journey of 180 miles took three days, and was undertaken to raise awareness and funds for the charity.
For more information on the charity and JoJo’s involvement please visit www.jojomamanbebe.co.uk
Laura Tenison is married and has two sons (Toby and Ben) who both modelled extensively for JoJo as babies. Her husband is a criminal defence barrister. She is a hands-on mother, juggling her children with her career and putting in long hours to ensure that neither suffers, although she admits that being able to survive on little sleep is essential. Laura was the youngest of a large family and thrives in a busy house full of children. She is known among her friends for cooking huge meals at the drop of a hat, and loves impromptu parties and to be surrounded by people. Her home is often the meeting point for JoJo team members (and sometimes their children) from across the company.
She divides her time between London (where the JoJo design studio and marketing office is based), the company’s headquarters in Newport, South Wales (where her family are from) and her home in Brittany where the idea for JoJo was first conceived.