Shop shuts as Dragons' Den star takes over company

Sara Davies said "the administrators saw that there was no way the Chesterfield store could continue to trade given it consistently made losses"

A craft hub in Derbyshire has closed after the business, which was founded by Dragons' Den star Sara Davies, went into administration.

The Crafter's Companion store in Barlborough, near Chesterfield, was shut by administrators on 7 January, leaving 10 people redundant, but the Evesham base, in Worcestershire, has remained open.

The company was founded by Ms Davies in 2005, while at university.

She said she later sold the majority of it, but bought it from administrators on 7 January and is a major shareholder again.

She said: "It's never easy making staff redundant, and I understand why it has come as a shock to employees but there was no way this could be avoided."

The entrepreneur said: "The decision to close the loss-making Chesterfield store was taken by the administrators in preparation for the sale of the business to us."

"The actual closure happened after we acquired the business," she added.

Ms Davies said the store had not traded profitably "for quite some time, and it couldn't remain part of the Crafter's Companion family going forwards".

Crafter's Companion was inside Dobbies garden centre in Barlborough, Chesterfield

The company - which sells crafts supplies - has a head office and warehouse in County Durham, a store in Evesham and the former shop in Chesterfield.

She said: "I'm proud that we have saved over a hundred jobs in the North but I'm very sorry that these colleagues had to leave the family."

Ms Davies added as the business has been rescued from administration, saving more than a hundred jobs, it was "important to make sure that we focus our efforts" on the remaining store and website, "to ensure Crafter's Companion's future success".

She added: "I have invested my own money back into the business, and alongside a new financial partner who has also invested, I am now a major shareholder again."

Ms Davies became the youngest ever female dragon to join BBC One's Dragons' Den and was awarded an MBE for services to the economy in 2016.

She receive an honorary degree from the University of York in 2024 in recognition of her "outstanding contribution to society".

The accounts for Crafter's Companion Limited for the 2024 financial year were overdue before the company went into administration.

The most recent filed accounts show its revenue fell from £37.8m in 2022 to £29.9m in the 2023 financial year, a drop of 21%.