Aycliffe Today Business Aycliffe Today Business Issue 42 | Page 18

18 | Aycliffe Today Business
SUCCESS
WITH A SMILE
Founder of £44m
global brand, and
youngest-ever TV
Dragon Sara Davies,
tells Aycliffe Today
editor Martin Walker
that you can be astute
in business and be
nice to people at the
same time…
Pictures by Chris Booth.
D
espite her astronomical rise to fame,
Sara Davies’ feet remain firmly on the
ground in her native County Durham.
Her emergence on BBC Two’s hit show
Dragons’ Den – along with several other TV
appearances on This Morning, Loose Women
and countless national paper and magazine
interviews – have propelled her to household
name status.
But the 35-year-old from Coundon, who
relocated her £44m-a-year global business
Crafter’s Companion to Aycliffe Business Park
almost four years ago, remains fiercely proud
of where she calls home.
Sara has already made a big impact on the
business show, which is presented by Evan
Davis and aired on Sunday evenings.
After replacing Jenny Campbell, Sara is the
highest-spending Dragon in its 17th series,
having invested more than £500,000.
She’s already busy giving vital mentoring
and commercial support to those start-up
firms – something which excites Sara greatly,
and keeps her even busier.
“I absolutely loved every minute of it!”
smiles Sara, as we chat in her offices within
Crafter’s Companion’s site along Horndale
Avenue on the business park.
“Filming was intense. It’s done in a short
space of time, so the filming days are long,
we usually see about eight pitches a day.
“But it’s fantastic fun – the other ‘dragons’
are lovely. They’ve made me feel so
welcome.”
Sara admits to being slightly nervous in the
early filming sessions – but she made a very
early decision to just be herself.
“A friend of mine suggested I should look
into it, as I’ve always been a keen Angel
Investor, and he contacted the show’s
producers last year,” explains Sara.
“The next day I had one of them on the
phone. We chatted on Skype for about two
hours and he spent a long time making me
aware of the commitments involved and the
impact it would have on me and my family.
“I then went for a screen test, along
with other candidates, and I just thought to
myself ‘be yourself’. I’ve never tried to hide
my accent – I’m proud of it. That mantra has
stuck with me throughout my life, so why
change now?”
Production of the 17th series started in
June – involving 18 filming days – and its 14
episodes are still currently being aired.
And while the other dragons – Peter
Jones, Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman
and Tej Lalvani – have been welcoming, Sara