Sir Bernard Albert Ashley (11 August 1926 – 14 February 2009) was an English businessman and engineer. He was the husband of Laura Ashley, and was her business partner from the founding of their fashion-textiles-centred business. An engineer with a love of trains, planes and boats, Ashley was often portrayed in the media as a businessman instead of a designer – but he had a huge love of colour and design. He had interests in Laura Ashley Holdings and the country-house hotel Llangoed Hall. Ranked 796th richest person in the UK with a fortune of £60m in fashion and hotels by the Sunday Times Rich List. He lived mainly in Brussels, but had houses in Hay-on-Wye and France. Early life Ashley was born 11 August 1925, the son of Albert Ashley and Hilda Maud Ashley. He attended Whitgift Middle School in Croydon. Laura Ashley plc After World War II, engineer Bernard Ashley met Welsh secretary Laura Mountney at a youth club in Wallington, London. While working as a secretary and raising her first two children, part-time she designed napkins, table mats, tea-towels which Bernard printed on a machine he had designed in an attic flat in Pimlico, London. The couple had invested £10 in wood for the screen frame, dyes and a few yards of linen. From 1953, Bernard left his city job and the couple began to expand the company. This put themselves on the road to becoming an international company with a brand that is recognised around the globe. Laura designed the prints and Bernard built the printing equipment, so forging a complementary partnership that was to give the company its unique strength throughout the years. Laura remained in charge of design until shortly before her death, while Bernard handled the operational side. Employing staff to cope with the growth of sales, the company was originally registered as Ashley Mountney (Laura's maiden name), but Bernard changed the name to Laura Ashley because he felt a woman's name was more appropriate for the type of products. The newly formed company moved to Kent in 1955, but the business was nearly wiped out in 1958, when the River Darent overflowed – leaving equipment, dyes and fabrics floating in three feet of water. Turnover rose from £2,000 to £8,000 in 1960, and in light of the birth of the third of their four children, the family moved to Wales in 1961.