Crafter's Companion Trading Company Enters Liquidation With 58 Jobs Lost
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Cedarcrest Global Trading Limited, the Newton Aycliffe company that operated Sara Davies' craft brand Crafter's Companion, has entered liquidation with 58 redundancies, as the brand, which is owned separately, is set to be folded into a merger with Gemporia.
Crafter's Companion, the County Durham craft business founded by Dragons' Den star Sara Davies, has lost its trading company to liquidation, with 58 people made redundant.
Staff were told the news in face-to-face meetings with Davies on Monday 19 October. All 42 employees at the company's Horndale Avenue headquarters in Newton Aycliffe lost their jobs, along with 16 at its store in Evesham, near Worcester.
The liquidation is tied to a planned merger with Gemporia, the Worcestershire-based jewellery and craft retailer and one of Crafter's Companion's biggest UK customers. Gemporia's board decided the combined business could run through one trading company, leaving the existing Crafter's Companion company with no role to play.
Davies started Crafter's Companion in 2005 while still a university student, and built it into a well-known craft brand with a loyal community of crafters, run from Newton Aycliffe in County Durham.
Since early 2025 the business has traded through Cedarcrest Global Trading Limited. Companies House records the company as being incorporated on 4 November 2024 as Modella Acquisition Co 1 Limited, changed its name in January 2025, and has Davies as a director. That timing fits reports that Davies returned to the business at the end of 2024, when it was close to collapse, and kept it going with investment group Modella.
The brand itself is a different matter. The company has said the Crafter's Companion brand is owned separately from the trading company, and Davies has said the brand and website will carry on.
The directors of Cedarcrest Global Trading Limited chose to put the company in liquidation rather than seek a rescue through administration. The decision closes the trading company, its headquarters and its single retail store.
As of 25 October, Companies House still lists the company as active, and no liquidator's name had been made public. The formal appointment and the identity of the office-holder should become clear in the coming days.
In a statement to customers, the business said the past week had been "incredibly difficult", with "a lot of worry and uncertainty, particularly around outstanding orders and what happens next". It said the brand's future "is now being carefully considered" and that updates on orders, the website and events would follow.
For readers less familiar with the difference, a liquidation winds a company up and realises its assets for creditors, whereas administration is designed to rescue a business or get a better result than an immediate wind-up. Our guide to administration vs liquidation explains what that means for buyers.
The immediate trigger was structural rather than a sudden collapse in trading. Davies told The Northern Echo that the liquidation followed talks to merge Crafter's Companion with Gemporia, whose board decided one trading entity was enough.
It also follows two turbulent years. Davies came back to the business at the end of 2024, when it was on the brink of failure. Seven employees left in October 2025 and seven more in January 2026, and in December 2025 the company confirmed it would close its St Cuthbert's Way warehouse after moving 60 per cent of its warehousing and fulfilment to the United States.
No figures on the trading company's debts or creditor position have been published.
This is not a classic distressed sale. The brand, the website and the customer community are reported to sit outside the liquidation, and the plan is for them to continue under the Gemporia merger. Anyone hoping to buy Crafter's Companion as a going concern should assume it is not available.
What remains less clear is what the trading company itself still holds. Stock, equipment and any interests in the Newton Aycliffe and Evesham premises could form part of the liquidation, but none of these has been confirmed as available for sale, and no liquidator has yet been named. Any interested party will need to wait for the appointment, then ask the office-holder what assets exist, whether any are subject to finance or third-party claims, and whether any have already been dealt with as part of the merger.
There may be more interest from competitors than acquirers. Craft and hobby retailers, and businesses looking for experienced e-commerce and fulfilment staff in the North East, may want to keep an eye on the case.
Looking for opportunities that are genuinely on the market? You can search for distressed businesses across the UK.
No. The company that operated Crafter's Companion, Cedarcrest Global Trading Limited, has entered liquidation, not administration. Its directors chose to wind the trading company up after Gemporia's board decided the merged business could run through a single trading company. Companies House still listed the company as active on 25 October, and the liquidator had not been publicly named.
The trading company has closed its Newton Aycliffe headquarters and its Evesham store, and all 58 staff have been made redundant. Sara Davies has said the Crafter's Companion brand and website will continue, as the brand is owned separately from the trading company and is expected to continue as part of the merger with Gemporia.
58 people have been made redundant: 42 at the Horndale Avenue headquarters in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, and 16 at the store in Evesham, near Worcester. Staff were told during face-to-face meetings with founder Sara Davies on Monday 19 October 2026.
That looks unlikely. The brand is reported to be owned separately from the company in liquidation, and the stated plan is for it to continue as part of the merger with Gemporia. Any assets that remain in the trading company will be dealt with by the liquidator once appointed, and buyers should ask the office-holder directly what, if anything, is available.