Dragons’ Den star shuts up shop in ‘unavoidable’ move to save rest of business
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A DRAGONS' Den star has been forced to close a shop in an "unavoidable" move to save the rest of her business. The Crafter's Companion store near Chesterfield and run by Sara Davies was shut by administrators earlier this month. The branch welcomed in shoppers for the final time on January 7 with the closure seeing 10 members of staff lose their jobs.
![[Sara Davies at an event.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/0001-wednesday-october-30-file-944884767_9b9fb4.jpg?strip=all&w=640)
Crafter's Companion, which sells everything from papercraft and art to sewing and needlecraft, also has a head office and warehouse in County Durham which continue to operate. A further branch in Evesham, Worcestershire, remains open as well. The closure comes after Crafter's Companion, set up by Ms Davies while she was at university in 2005, brought in administrators earlier this month in a bid to rescue the business.
Ms Davies then managed to buy back the company from administrators, making her a major shareholder again. But the decision to close the Barlborough branch, which had not been profitable "for quite some time", was made by administrators before this. Ms Davies 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.".
Ms Davies added after the business had been rescued from administration, she was focused on putting her efforts in to the Evesham store and website. The closure comes following a turbulent couple of years for Crafter's Companion, with revenue dropping over 20% in 2023.
