Award-winning Gwent businesswoman Laura Tenison has launched a retreat centre in Monmouthshire.

Entrepreneur Ms Tenison set up and ran mother and baby company JoJo Maman Bébé for 29 years, but she sold the business in 2022 and has now branched out with a new venture following her dream of creating a retreat centre.

She said: "Selling JoJo was the hardest thing.

"I loved my team, what we had achieved, and our company ethos.

"But I'd been ill with sepsis and later a nasty case of Covid and being a hands-on owner manager of a company that size was taking its toll.

"I realised that JoJo had become too big for my open-door style of management, it was time for me to change my life."

Her new venture, Wonderful Escapes, is based at the 30-acre, Grade II-listed Wern-y-Cwm farmstead, on the Skirrid, near Abergavenny.

The buildings have been transformed into 16 bedrooms and the renovation used re-cycled materials, many of which came from reclamation yards in Wales, and up-cycled furniture.

New gardens provide fruits, vegetables and herbs for the retreat, while meat is sourced from neighbouring farms.

Ms Tenison, who set up Jojo Maman Bébé from the kitchen table of her family's home near Pontypool, said: "I grew up loving the Welsh countryside, having the freedom to explore from an early age.

"I hate what our addiction to smart phones is doing and I want others to enjoy the sense of wellbeing we took for granted.

"It’s so satisfying seeing children run free on holidays with their families or adults relax and have fun on a yoga, wellness retreat or businesspeople bonding trip." 

Ms Tenison fought to keep Jojo Maman Bébé from becoming too corporate, despite its growth to eventually trade in around 50 countries.

She led the way in ethical retail, a strategy instrumental in the business achieving B-Corporation Certification.

With her new venture in the heart of Monmouthshire, her intention is to bring guests to the Welsh countryside to explore, learn, and have fun.

The retreat 'agendas' will range from business mentoring to wellness, to parent and child stays.

Guests will be able to participate in gong baths, relax in the sauna, feel the endorphin rush of a cold dip in the natural swimming pool, and enjoy the hot tubs under the extraordinary stars, maybe with a glass of bubbly and new friends.