NEWS
Dragons ’ Den star and Crafter ’ s Companion founder Sara Davies
ADVICE
HAPPY BIRTHDAY !
Newton Aycliffe-based Crafter ’ s
Companion celebrates 15 years in business this year .
Crafter ’ s Companion was founded by Sara Davies MBE in 2005 , when she was studying for a business degree at York University .
While undergoing the placement , Sara spotted a gap in the market for a tool which could create bespoke envelopes for crafters . With this in mind , Sara created The Enveloper and Crafter ’ s Companion was born .
Sara said : “ This year has been extremely challenging for many businesses , so to celebrate another anniversary , especially one that represents such a significant milestone , means a great deal to the company .
“ I am immensely proud of what Crafter ’ s Companion has been able to achieve in the last 15 years .
Crafter ’ s Companion has welcomed an experienced TV shopping production expert to support its digital network , Crafter ’ s TV .
Erin Felipe , who has relocated from Florida for the position , has joined the team as Crafter ’ s TV ’ s post-production manager . Prior to her new role with Crafter ’ s Companion , Erin was a prime-time line producer for HSN , one of the largest shopping networks in the USA .
Erin has more than 15 years ’ experience in production , 13 of those with HSN .
She worked through a variety of positions , starting with prepping products and writing scripts to managing schedules and budgets , producing shoots and launching a brand-new channel for the broadcaster , HSN2 .
In her most recent role as prime-time line producer for HSN , Erin supported the launch of new products and viewer favourites , with hourly goals of more than $ 1.5m , and produced complex fixed programming and
15-year milestone for Aycliffe-based crafter firm
“ We have strived to create innovative products for the crafts industry and our growth has seen us export to more than 40 different countries , outgrow our head offices in the UK and US and has seen us establish our digital platform , Crafter ’ s TV , which is going from strength to strength .
“ This year , we were also awarded a Queen ’ s Award for Enterprise for International Trade , which was a huge accomplishment for the business .
“ As well as being a big celebration , our birthday week is an opportunity to recognise how far we ’ ve come , as we look towards the future .
“ We wouldn ’ t be where we are today without the continued support of our loyal customers and birthday week is our way of saying thank you for sticking with us for so long !”
INTERNATIONAL RECRUIT JOINS TV TEAM
anniversary shows .
Erin , who has relocated to the North-East with her husband and dogs , said : “ I jumped at the chance to join Crafter ’ s Companion . It was a combination of wanting to set myself a new challenge , being passionate about crafting and working for Jeni again on the Crafter ’ s TV team , who I worked closely with at HSN .”
Jeni Santillo , manager of the TV division at Crafter ’ s Companion , said : “ We are incredibly lucky to welcome Erin to the Crafter ’ s TV team and I am very excited to work alongside her again .”
OUR MISSED OPPORTUNITY
The Chancellor ’ s speech had been billed as the next step in the government ’ s ‘ levelling up ’ agenda at a challenging time for our regional economy .
While we acknowledge the pressure on public finances , the statement was a missed opportunity to restore confidence and many announcements were poorly targeted and too short-term in their scope .
On the face of it , a Levelling Up Fund sounds good , but is far too small in scale and ambition to be effective . The government ’ s own documents recognise the particular impact Covid has had on northern regions but we fear £ 4bn won ’ t go very far if spread across the country . The lack of targeted funding is disappointing at a time when the Chancellor is at pains to stress how little money there is to go around
Our region needs a long-term commitment to address decades of under-investment , rather than short term fixes which must be delivered during this Parliament .
In contrast , the reform to the Treasury ’ s ‘ Green Book ’ funding rules is something we have long campaigned for and should , if implemented correctly , help to shift the balance of infrastructure spending in the long term .
Since the Brexit referendum we have constantly asked what will replace EU funding which has been so beneficial to our region over many years . We welcome the reference to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund which will replace it .
The accompanying Infrastructure Strategy similarly is a missed opportunity to make some big ambitious announcements to address regional imbalances as it contained little in the way of new schemes . Jonathan Walker Policy director , North East England Chamber of Commerce
The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 21