A star of Dragons’ Den is increasing her stake in the crafting company she founded as the owner of WH Smith sells its holding in the business.
Sara Davies, a panellist on the popular BBC show, has increased her holding in Crafter’s Companion after joining efforts to turn around the company when it filed for administration earlier this year.
Davies, 41, founded the business from her bedroom at York University and built it into an international seller of paper craft, art and sewing products, with a reported valuation of more than £25 million in 2019.
She returned as chief executive of Crafter’s Companion earlier this year when it was sold through a fast-track pre-pack administration to Modella Capital, the investment firm that has since purchased the WH Smith store portfolio.
Modella has now sold its interest to Maven Capital Partners, an investment firm headquartered in Glasgow, and Davies, who founded the company 20 years ago.
Crafter’s Companion swung back to profitability in May following Davies’s return. She is now standing down as chief executive and will hand over day-to-day running of the business to Diane Sharp, who was initially brought in as a financial controller and was subsequently promoted to managing director.
The company is opening a warehouse in the US in the coming weeks as its products were caught by the Trump administration’s decision to end a tariff exemption on imports of goods valued at $800 or less.
Davies returned as chief executive of Crafter’s Companion earlier this year
NICKY JOHNSTON/PA
Davies had stayed as a non-executive with Crafter’s Companion when it was sold to Growth Partner, a long-term backer, in 2024. She said the business lost its way when the new management team brought in to run the company shifted its focus from die-hard crafters towards a more general audience.
She told The Times: “We are excellent in our product development and our biggest investment in our company is in product development. They radically cut our product development teams down and wanted to source off-the-shelf product from China.
“Our customers are generally older, retired ladies who have time on their hands and plenty of money. The strategy pivot went after a much broader audience. And in my eyes, we have no right to win there. We don’t compete on price; we deliver exceptional products which are at the higher end of the market.”
The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed but it is understood that Davies will significantly increase her minority shareholding in the business, with Maven owning a majority stake.