Sara Davies MBE has revealed that she worked to save Crafter’s Companion, the firm she founded as a student two decades ago, on Christmas Day.
The BBC Dragon told Chronicle Live that “it鈥檚 been quite the Christmas” after stepping in to rescue the North East company from administration.
Davies, who returned for series 22 of Dragons鈥� Den on Thursday, hopes to save 100 jobs at the Durham company.
“[On] Christmas Eve I thought it would be lovely to have the grandparents stay over 鈥� in fact we had three sets of grandparents, my sister and her husband and my little niece staying over,” she told the publication. “And at half past midnight on Christmas Eve I was receiving deal memos. It鈥檚 been literally non-stop.”
Davies also acknowledged the hard work of her husband, Simon, who helped her work on saving the business throughout the period.
She continued: 鈥淏eing married to an accountant has its perks – poor Simon lost his holiday as well, spending the whole time sense checking business plans and building cash flow forecasts, balance sheets and scenario planning. I had a few hours off on Christmas Day to cook the dinner with my sister. I didn鈥檛 want the staff to lose their jobs – these are staff who have worked for me for nearly 20 years, and they had no idea that the company was trading like this.
鈥淏ut I鈥檝e managed to find a partner to back me financially 鈥� it鈥檚 their choice not to be named 鈥� and I鈥檓 investing a significant sum of my own money, on the acquisition of the company and the working capital that鈥檚 needed to trade the company out of this.鈥�
Crafter鈥檚 Companion, which has physical stores in Newton Aycliffe, Chesterfield and Evesham, supplies crafting tools and supplies across the UK, Europe and United States via its website.
COVID-19 saw eCommerce sales spike as hobbyists sought to take up crafting at home. However a drop in business followed and the company moved into the red.
Growth Partner invested millions last year, installing a new management team as Davies and husband Simon, the co-founder and CEO, stepped back – a move that hasn’t worked out.
The pre-pack insolvency, first reported by The Times, will see the duo 鈥� currently minority shareholders 鈥� increase their investment, with Sara Davies named CEO.
A regular on TV crafting programmes as well as BBC shows including Morning Live, Davies added: 鈥淚 honestly thought the bottom was going to fall out of my world when the news came through that they wanted to put the company into administration.
“This rescue package that I鈥檝e been putting together has been done in the last two weeks – from the Sunday before Christmas. It鈥檚 been quite the Christmas, I can tell you!
“It was hard to see your baby that you鈥檝e built up over 18 years struggle, and to not be in a position to do anything about that. That鈥檚 the most upsetting thing. And staff who have been with me 15, 18 years, really loyal and hard-working, were looking to me as if to say 鈥榳hat are you doing Sara?鈥� and I couldn鈥檛 do anything because I wasn鈥檛 in control.
鈥淚f they were going to sell the company I鈥檇 be going along with the company, so I was working with them to pursue different options to selling the company.鈥�
Davies said she feels grateful for the support from Growth Partner, saying she personally reached out to the firm鈥檚 founder, HomeServe CEO Richard Harpin, to thank him for 10 years of 鈥渋ncredible鈥� support.
She added: 鈥淚 also don鈥檛 want to let my customers down. For a lot of our customers the crafting isn鈥檛 just a hobby, it鈥檚 a way of life, a community, an outreach. So many customers would panic if we didn鈥檛 exist anymore, and didn鈥檛 have our craft TV shows. It might sound big-headed to think of your brand this way, but to our craft community it鈥檚 more than a company that sells things to people.
“I will probably have to cut down on the number of commitments outside of the business. I scaled it up last year because I wasn鈥檛 required as much in the business, and have been doing much more with the BBC. I will just have to be selective about the projects I鈥檓 doing. I need to be smart because you spend a lot of time travelling to do the filming.
鈥淟ast year I filmed a new series for the BBC in Newcastle which airs in February – if they want to make another series of that then absolutely, it鈥檚 just up the road. But going down to London to do a six-minute interview? Those are the things I鈥檓 going to have to cut down on.鈥�
A spokesperson for Growth Partner said: “We extend our best wishes to Sara and her new financial backer, now the majority owner, as they work to restructure and turn the business around.”