JoJo Maman Bebe founder fears for firm after Trump win

The founder of a Newport-based business which has expanded into the US has said she fears for its future after Donald Trump won the presidential contest.

Mr Trump has said he wants to tear up the international free trade rules and become more protectionist with trade barriers.

Laura Tenison, said this attitude had "tainted" America for her and she was reconsidering whether JoJo Maman Bebe would continue investing there.

The firm's US turnover is about $5m.

Ms Tenison's mother and baby clothing business has a distribution centre in the US, about 300 wholesale accounts, plus a mail-order catalogue and website.

She said the company was manufacturing in dollars, while mostly selling in the UK in sterling.

"When sterling devalued [post-Brexit] we had a big problem," she said. "We know our consumers are stretched on price, we don't want to put our prices up, but equally we have to somehow make our company pay for itself.

"So the solution is to sell as much in dollars as you buy in dollars."

Ms Tenison said she first started building up the company's international business after the credit crunch in 2008 when the value of the pound previously dropped.

"We've invested heavily in the States over the last three years," she said.

"Now, with the protectionist attitude that Mr Trump is talking about, we are back to a situation where we just don't know what the future holds. Do we keep investing? Do we put it on hold?

"Obviously we are going to take advice and we are going to have a long hard think about it and hopefully the man is not going to be as powerful as he thinks he is."

The managing director said she did not see a Trump presidency as an opportunity in any way.

"It's taken us five years to build up a halfway decent sized business in America. You have to brand-build, you have to invest, you can't just change your supply chain," she said.

"We work with 200 factories across the world and you can't change your customer base. These things take years. Hopefully he will only be around for five of them."