Sara Davies MBE

Sara Davies established Crafter’s Companion while studying for a Business Management degree at York University. During a placement at a small craft company, she spotted a gap in the market for a tool that could create bespoke envelopes for handmade cards. With help from her retired engineer father, Sara designed and launched a ground-breaking craft product called The Enveloper.

After securing a slot on TV shopping channel Ideal Word, The Enveloper became an instant hit, selling 1,500 in the first ten minutes and 30,000 units within six months of the initial demonstration. This demand led Sara to develop her first line of innovative products for the craft market.

She left university with a first-class honours degree and a business turning over half a million pounds. Today, Crafter’s Companion is a household name in the industry. It has expanded its range of papercraft products to include sewing and needlecraft items, in addition to its own brand of art materials, Spectrum Noir.

The company designs, manufactures and sells its craft-related products to customers across 40 countries and employs more than 220 people worldwide. It continues to celebrate its North East roots, with a head office, warehouse and store in County Durham, and has established stores in Chesterfield and Evesham.

Crafter’s Companion also has a US head office and warehouse in Corona, California. Crafter’s Companion has appeared in the Sunday Times’ SME Export Track 100 list four times. It ranked at number 73 in 2019, 31 in 2018, after experiencing 72% year- on-year-growth in export sales, 52 in 2017 and number 26 in 2015.

To date, the business has proudly collected more than 25 awards for the company’s achievements and for Sara’s accomplishments as an entrepreneur, in addition to a multitude of craft industry awards for its innovative craft products. These include the Ernst & Young UK Emerging Entrepreneur, Shell Livewire Young Entrepreneur, Women of the Future Award and the Stevie Women in Business award for Young Entrepreneur, as well as International Business of the Year at the Federation of Small Businesses Awards.

More recently, Sara’s been awarded: Outstanding Entrepreneur at the Northern Power Award, 10 Most Admired Businesswomen to Watch in 2021- CIO Views and the Industry Achievement Award at AFCI’s Creative Industry Awards. Sara has also been recognised in the ‘Who’s Who of Britain’s Business Elite’ and CNBC’s UK’s ‘Top Ten Brilliant Entrepreneurs’ and received the Creative Entrepreneur of the Year at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards.

In 2016, Sara was presented with an MBE in the Her Majesty’s Birthday Honours List, for services to the economy. She regularly features on the Create and Craft TV channel in the UK, in addition to the Home Shopping Network (HSN) in the US and QVC Germany. She was the founding Chair of the board of directors at the Craft Hobby Association UK, now known as the AFCI-UK, which complements her role on the board of the affiliate US chapter.

2019 heralded Sara’s first appearance as a Dragon on BBC2’s Dragons Den. The youngest dragon to ever enter the den she quickly successfully invested a multitude of businesses across various sectors.

Her popularity caught the eye of Strictly Come Dancing and she entered as a contestant in 2021. Having loved the experience so much she went on to dance in the Strictly Come Dancing Tour in 2022.

From there Sara became a regular host on Morning Live (BBC1) and she also hosts ‘Master of Ceremonies’ (BBC2) alongside Fred Sirieix.

The entrepreneur is passionate about championing women in business, mentoring and the North East of England. In 2021, Sara became an ambassador of the dressing service and coaching charity, Smart Works Newcastle. The charity believes in the power of clothes and coaching to transform a woman’s confidence.

In Addition to being an ambassador of Smart Works Newcastle, Sara has been a patron of the Bradley Lowery Foundation since 2019. The charity was established in August 2017 by Bradley’s mum Gemma, after six-year old Bradley Lowery lost his fight to Neuroblastoma, a rare and aggressive form of childhood cancer. Sara has also taken part in national campaigns and fundraisers for Mind, the mental health charity, and BBC’s Children In Need.

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