They say a week is a long time in politics – but it’s nothing compared to a week in the life of Sara Davies.
The 41-year-old may have announced she’s leaving the Den but she’s never been busier.
Her manic life could best be summed up by the fact that after attending the BAFTAs on Sunday, the founder of Crafter’s Companion was straight on a plane to Florida for a whirlwind 24 hours of shows for their TV shopping partner HSN.
Before all that, she squeezed in the time to speak at BusinessCloud’s Northern Leaders event in her native North East, and banged the drum for the region and working Mums everywhere.
Moja founder Sophie Milliken; Sara Davies; and Greggs CEO Roisin Currie at Northern Leaders event in Newcastle on May 8, 2025
I watched first-hand as she (probably) achieved a world record for the fastest ever signing of 60 copies of her own book – The Six Minute Entrepreneur – which were handed out to attendees at Thursday’s sell-out event.
Davies’ work ethic is actually the reason why she recently decided to step away from Dragons’ Den, explaining that she couldn’t commit to filming another season after returning to the company she founded as a student, Crafter’s Companion.
It was in January this year that the former Strictly Come Dancing contestant rescued the firm from administration, a period which she described as ‘the busiest most knackering time of my life but also the most exhilarating and probably the most exciting I’ve had in my 20 years in business’.
Having committed to returning to the business as its CEO, Davies confessed that she didn’t believe she could give 100 per cent to Dragons’ Den so viewers will see her step away from the show after the second part of Series 22 airs later this year.
“For the last six years, I’ve managed to juggle my business requirements with Dragons’ Den,” she told BusinessCloud.
“The problem is, if I have to work full-time for the business (Crafter’s Companion), I haven’t got the time to commit to Dragons’ Den, which doesn’t need my full time but it needs damn near close to it.
“You see the tip of the iceberg – filming the shows and investing in the businesses. You don’t see the monumental amount of work that comes with being a part of up to a dozen companies’ journeys thereafter.
“It was a huge decision to leave because it’s a really big part of who I am. I agreed with the producers that I couldn’t commit to it for 2025, but that doesn’t mean I’m closing the door on the Den forever.”
The decision marks the end of a six-year stint on the show for Davies, who became the youngest-ever Dragon back in 2019 at the age of 35.
She has regularly been praised for her authenticity and has earned a reputation as the ‘nicest Dragon’.
Her successful investments during her time on the show, which was nominated for a BAFTA in Sunday’s ceremony, include Will Chew’s Mak Tok, Hamza Shah and Steve Victor’s My Chocolate Shop and Hayley Hannigan’s Tiny Explorers.
But the journey to national fame began where Davies has proudly remained – in the North East.
The 41-year-old was born in Coundon, County Durham and grew up in a family with entrepreneurial roots.
Her parents, Frank and Susan, ran the local paint and wallpaper shop.
Ready for the BAFTAs: Sara Davies
Recounting her early life, she said: “A lot of people always say to me: ‘Are entrepreneurs born, or are they made?’
“Well, I don’t know, because I was born into an entrepreneurial family with the entrepreneurial genes, but I grew up knowing nothing else than running our own business.
“A painter and decorator would come knocking on our door at 10 o’clock at night because they needed a tin of paint for a job at six o’clock the next morning. My mum would just put a dressing gown on, open the shop and mix a tin of paint.
“There was no line where our life ended and the business started, and I grew up knowing that that’s what I wanted to do. I was prepared to live that life and everything that went with that life.”
From there, she pursued a business degree at the University of York, and in 2005 identified a gap in the crafting market for a tool that could create bespoke envelopes for handmade cards.
With assistance from her father, she developed The Enveloper, a product that quickly gained popularity on the Ideal World shopping channel, selling 30,000 units within six months.
By the time she graduated, Crafter’s Companion was turning over £500,000.
It was this success that led to her joining Dragons’ Den in 2019.
However, Davies admitted that, throughout the early stages of her glowing business career, she suffered with imposter syndrome.
In February 2025, she wrote on LinkedIn: “I’m disappointed that I spent most of my 20s thinking I was never good enough to be in whatever room I’d made my way into and I thought that to justify being there, I had to be someone different.
“By the time I hit my 30s I’d gained enough self-confidence to know I was good enough. Some people are in their 60s and 70s and haven’t been able to work that out yet.
“So I don’t know if there are any of you out there feeling the way I did in my 20s, or still having this self doubt, but take it from one who’s leant it first hand – being you is absolutely the best thing you can be.”
In 2007, Davies married childhood sweetheart Simon, who joined Crafter’s Companion a year later as managing director.
The couple have two sons, Charlie and Oliver, and whilst Davies admitted being ‘massively envious’ of women who gave up their careers to look after their children, she said that she doesn’t chastise herself for occasionally missing her children’s events due to other commitments.
“As a working woman, I look at other women who maybe gave up their careers to bring up their families, and that is wonderful,” she said at last week’s Northern Leaders event in the Newcastle office of KPMG.
“I am massively envious of the time they get to spend with their kids, but if I had done that, I wouldn’t be happy. I wouldn’t feel fulfilled as a woman, and that might make me really selfish to say that – but I would not be happy as a stay-at-home Mum.
“Would I love to spend more time with my kids? Absolutely. So I don’t chastise myself for the decisions I make. I champion myself for them.
“I missed sports day last year, and I was utterly devastated about that fact… but it was right while we were filming Dragons’ Den.
“Could I hell as like tell the BBC that ‘Peter Jones might have cancelled a big meeting, and Steven Bartlett flew in from the US for this… but my kids have sports day!’
“But I did make both of the kids’ school nativities last year. And so when I look back and I think about how I performed as a mother, I really champion that fact and I don’t chastise myself for not making sports day.
“It’s accepting that I can’t be all things to all people all the time – I need to revel in what I’ve done really well.”
In 2016 Davies was awarded the MBE for her contributions to the economy, before appearing in the 2021 series of Strictly Come Dancing, before being eliminated in week eight.
In the same year, she was appointed the North East ambassador for Smart Works Newcastle, a charity chaired by Moja founder and fellow Northern Leader Sophie Milliken, that supports unemployed women by providing interview coaching and professional attire.
In 2024, she was appointed chief inspiration officer for Avon UK, aiming to empower more women to build and run their own businesses, and a week after she announced she was leaving Dragons’ Den, £1bn turnover company Travel Counsellors appointed her as their first growth and entrepreneurship partner.
In March ITV confirmed she would host a new show called Time Is Money while in April she headed to China for a business trip.
If there was an award for the busiest ever Dragon, Davies would surely win it.
Writing on her own website she explained her approach to hard work. “Business doesn’t come to you,” she said. “You have to go to it. You have to grab the bull by the horns and chase down the opportunities — that’s the strength of a true entrepreneur!”