Sara Davies: The Youngest Dragon Before Steven Bartlett
Sara Davies
Sara Davies founded Crafter's Companion in 2005 while she was still a student working toward a business degree at the University of York, turning an idea for craft tools into a company that would later sell around the world.
She grew the business steadily through the 2000s and 2010s before joining Dragons' Den in its seventeenth series in 2019, arriving at the table as the youngest dragon in the show's history up to that point.
Building Crafter's Companion
Crafter's Companion makes papercraft and hobby tools sold through shopping channel formats as well as retail, and the company reported revenue of £29.9 million in the year to March 2023, a rare concrete figure for the scale of the business behind her television profile.
Davies was appointed MBE in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to the economy, an award that predates her Dragons' Den role and reflects the company's growth in the years before television made her a familiar face.
Life in the public eye
Beyond the Den, Davies took on Strictly Come Dancing in its 2021 series, partnered with Aljaz Skorjanec, and reached week seven of the competition, a run that introduced her to an audience well outside the crafting and small business world.
On the show itself she has positioned herself as the dragon most likely to back a product with a clear live demonstration, drawing on her own experience selling craft tools on shopping channels rather than through a traditional retail pitch.