Laura Tenison – mother and businesswoman

When Laura Tenison speaks about family and business, people tend to sit up and take notice. This energetic woman is the founder and managing director of JoJo Maman Bebe, Britain’s foremost maternity wear and children’s and nursery products company, and is a hands-on mother of two who has successfully combined business and family life.

Tenison has always had a feel for business. As a teenager in her home town of Newport, south Wales, she designed and made clothes to sell. Later, foregoing university, she chose to travel, visiting India and China to buy silks, and eventually taking a job as a hotel manager in Australia.

Returning to Britain she found work with Aquascutum, which gave her the opportunity to learn about the retail trade and helped shape the business philosophy that would work so well for her at JoJo. Still only in her twenties, Tenison moved to France where she became involved in the renovation of old farmhouses to re-sell. Two years later and with £50,000 profit in her pocket she decided to return to Britain. It was then that Fate took a hand.

Tenison was involved in a serious accident in France that left her in hospital nursing injuries that included 20 broken bones. As she lay in bed, the Frenchwoman in the bed beside her would flick through mail order magazines and complain about the lack of attractive baby clothes available. This sparked the germ of an idea.

With the Frenchwoman’s complaints in mind, Tenison came up with the idea of JoJo and began designing baby wear with a Breton nautical theme. She later introduced maternity wear into her collection after observing the dull clothing on offer to expectant mothers.

Tenison built her business on trust, respect and loyalty. She observed from her time at Aquascutum that there was little team spirit as staff were paid on commission, so she chose to implement a profit share system instead. She was also scrupulously honest and fair in her dealings with suppliers and other trading partners, an attitude that was to bear fruit during tough economic times when cash flow was difficult and, rather than walk away, they traded on trust, which was beneficial for everyone in the long term.

In 2010, Tenison’s business success was acknowledged with the Veuve Cliquot Businesswoman of the Year Award. Having grown her business from an idea in 1993 to a thriving online business with high street shops around the country and a multi-million pound annual turnover, it is an award she richly deserved.

And, Tenison built her business while taking care of a growing family too. In 1991, she married Barrister John Femi-Ola and now has two children – Benedict, born in 1995 and Tobias, born in 1999.

Her success is a tribute not only to her business acumen, but also to her energy. For the birth of each of her children, she took only one day of maternity leave and she works 18-hour days, yet she still finds time for her family, insisting that though she had nannies and helpers she would let no one take her place in the home.

by Kelly Turner