A shop owned by Dragons’ Den star Sara Davies while she was a student has closed its doors.
Ms Davies’ Crafter’s Companion store in Barlborough near Chesterfield, Derbyshire has shut, just days after the businesswoman took back control of the business.
The group’s other store in Evesham, Worcestershire will remain open.
The Dragons’ Den investor first set up Crafter’s Companion while at university in 2005, but later sold off the majority of her shares.Â
She repurchased the company, which was said to have turned over nearly £25million in 2018, from administrators on January 7.
Ms Davies said there was ‘no way’ the closure of the loss-making store could be avoided, while admitting the decision ‘would come as a shock to employees’.
The Chesterfield shop had been loss-making ‘for some time’ and couldn’t remain part of the business going forwards, she told the BBC.
She added that her intervention had saved over a hundred jobs ‘in the North’ and that the company would ‘focus our efforts’ on the other store and website.
The craft supply is run from its head office and warehouse in County Durham.
A craft shop set up by Dragons’ Den investor Sara Davies as a student has closed its doors
The Crafter’s Companion store in Barlborough near Chesterfield, Derbyshire closed days after Ms Davies’ repurchased the business from administrators
Ms Davies with Aljaž Škorjanec on Strictly Come Dancing. The entrepreneur said the sudden closure was unavoidable and she would focus on the remaining shop and website
While the craft store was closed since Ms Davies reacquisition of the business, the businesswoman confirmed the decision to shut down the shop was made by administrators ‘in preparation for the sale of the business to us’.
She said: ‘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 Den’s youngest female investor when she joined the BBC show in 2019, and has since appeared in six series.
The entrepreneur also competed nineteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing when she was partnered with professional Aljaž Škorjanec.
She was awarded an MBE in the 2016 New Year Honours for her services to the economy and received an honorary degree from her alma mater, the University of York business school last February.
Last July, Ms Davies was appointed as Chief Inspiration Officer for beauty company Avon UK.