Aycliffe Today Business Aycliffe Today Business Issue 40 | Page 9

The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 9
/NEWS
BUSINESS BRIEFS
Sara Davies
enters
Dragons’
Den
CPI WELCOMES RESIDENTS
CPI has welcomed new resident clients
to its state-of-the-art facility – just
months after opening.
B
BC Two has announced
that the latest Dragon
to enter the Den will
be entrepreneur Sara Davies,
founder of Newton Aycliffe-
based worldwide crafting
company Crafter’s Companion.
Sara steps into the role
following the departure of
Jenny Campbell, who stood
down from the programme in
February.
She began filming in the
Den this spring, with the next
series of Dragons’ Den due
to air on BBC Two later this
Crafter’s Companion founder Sara
summer.
Davies will star in the hit BBC2 show
Dragon’s Den this summer.
Aged 35, Sara is the
youngest ever Dragon. She
founded Crafter’s Companion,
show 13 years ago so it feels like I’ve come
a retail business specialising in craft tools,
designing and manufacturing many of its own a full circle.
“It wasn’t all that long ago when I was in
products, 13 years ago from her bedroom at
the position of the contestants so I really feel
university.
like I will be able to relate to their stories and
Her firm now turns over £34m a year and
their journeys so far. I understand the highs
employs more than 190 staff in UK, the US
and lows of building a global business from
and across Europe.
the ground and taking that initial product idea
She is the recipient of over 25 business
all the way to market.
awards and in 2016 she was recognised for
“I’m looking forward to getting started
services to the economy with an MBE in the
and hopefully being introduced to some
Queen’s Birthday Honours list.
businesses that I can really get excited
Sara is not new to TV; she has appeared
about.”
on a number of shopping channels in the UK
BBC Two controller Patrick Holland said:
and USA, as well as hosting her own craft
“With a BAFTA nomination and brilliant
programme, Be Creative TV.
viewing figures, Dragons Den continues to
She will join the existing line-up of
be a fantastic show on BBC Two.
Dragons; Deborah Meaden, Peter Jones, Tej
“Combining great aspirational opportunity
Lalvani and Touker Suleyman as they begin
with the promise of really challenging
filming the seventeenth series in the Den.
encounters with the Dragons, the show is
Sara said: “I’m absolutely delighted to join
going from strength to strength. Sara is a
the other Dragons for the new series of the
formidable business woman and I can’t wait
show.
to see her start in the Den.”
“I’ve always been very passionate about
Dragons’ Den is a BBC Studios production.
investing time in and sharing my expertise
Series 17 will air on BBC Two later this
with other entrepreneurs and hopefully I’ll be
able to help some of the contestants to really summer.
take their businesses to the next level.
Read Sara Davies’ column giving her
“I’ve been a fan of the show since it
business tips on page 11.
started, I was even invited to pitch on the
Crafter’s win international merchandising award
C
rafter’s Companion is celebrating after
winning a prestigious international award
from US TV shopping network, HSN.
The company received the Merchandising
Excellence accolade, in the Home category
of HSN’s Vendor of the Year Awards, out of
hundreds of the network’s partners across
various sectors including food, clothing,
accessories and many more.
HSN’s annual awards celebrate the
vendors that go beyond expectations for the
network and its customers, in addition to
delivering consistent sales through innovative
growth strategies.
Crafter’s Companion has partnered with
HSN, which is now owned by American cable
network QVC, for more than 11 years.
This is the first time Crafter’s Companion
has won the Merchandising Excellence
award.
The printable electronics centre,
based on Aycliffe Business Park, has
welcomed Silent Sensors, Datatecnics
Corporation and HP1 as tenants, along
with Wootzano and PST Sensors at its
original site on NETPark, in Sedgefield,
also County Durham.
Moving into incubator space, the
companies will benefit from CPI’s
technical expertise and cutting-edge
equipment as they seek to take
innovative products to commercialisation.
CPI’s facility supports the advancement
of smart label and tag technology, which
allows everyday physical objects to
wirelessly communicate and exchange
data across the Internet of Things.
ROMAN IN MALAYSIA
Leading international shower designer
and manufacturer Roman has officially
opened a new showroom with Cosentino
in Malaysia.
The grand opening of the Cosentino
showroom, partnered with Aycliffe-
based Roman, had a huge attendance
of 600 visitors from across South East
Asia including major architects, interior
designers and key journalists.
The grand opening in Malaysia included
the launch of the new Roman showroom,
beautifully showcasing the British
manufacturer’s latest shower enclosures
and solid surface capabilities.
DEAL BREWING
A housing association has teamed
up with family-run Aycliffe-based craft
brewery The Steam Machine to make a
beer to celebrate its 100th anniversary.
The beer is being brewed to a style
popular among drinkers when Railway
Housing Association was established in
1919.
ALDI’S CHARITY LINK
Aldi’s Newton Aycliffe store is now
donating surplus food directly to two
local charities that provide housing and
support for vulnerable young people in
the area, ROCSOLID and County Durham
Floating Support.
The new partnerships follow on from a
successful trial between the supermarket
and community engagement platform,
Neighbourly.
Aldi has paired up a total of 13 stores in
County Durham with local good causes
that are now collecting surplus food up
to five days a week.