Sara Davies MBE

These last few weeks I’ve been in Manchester while we’ve been filming the next series of Dragons’ Den, and even though they’re long (and I mean long) filming days, I still like to get up and go for my run on a morning! It really sets me up for the day, puts me in a positive frame of mind, gets the endorphins flowing and makes me feel great! I’ve really missed the little morning routine. \n\nProblem is, I love my evenings too, and we don’t finish filming sometimes til 9pm and then it’s great to go for dinner with the other Dragons, and that makes the 5.30 starts a bit a struggle. Plus I know how easily I fall off the bandwagon, so I googled ‘running coach Manchester’ and found the lovely Steve from Hatton Running and I pre-booked (and pre-paid) for a 6am session every morning we were filming so that no matter what I would still go.\n\nIt’s been the push I’ve needed and I’ve loved it! He’s there every morning, has planned some amazing routes so I’ve been able to see so much of Manchester, then pushes me a little bit harder every day to go a little bit longer, a little bit faster and push myself just a little bit more.\n\nI’ve even got Steven out with us sometimes! We always have a good bit of crack and it’s just the best start to the morning! Set us up right to go in for a big day of doing deals! \n\n#running #runningmotivation #dragonsden

I am so saddened to hear the devastating news of the passing of Her Majesty the Queen.

We have lost the greatest monarch in history, someone who selflessly and graciously dedicated her entire life to her country. She leaves a legacy which will never be forgotten. Thank you ma’am, may you rest in peace ❤️

Today I'm travelling...... for 18 hours...
.... and l've been looking forward to this for 2 weeks!

I've had the most manic 2 weeks LIKE EVER - and I'm absolutely bloody exhausted, and I feel like knowing l've got this whole day of doing absolutely nothing has been keeping me going!

Most people hate travelling (not me) because today knowing I don't have to talk to anyone, don't have to engage my brain (other than to check the gate at the connections), don't have to be 'on' is just absolutely WONDERFUL!

My plans are sleep, read a bit of my book, sleep, maybe watch a movie, sleep, have plane snacks, sleep... Oh and did I mention I might sleep too!

And all those people who say to me 'I don't know how you sleep on a plane - I can't’ then let me tell you - you’re just not tired enough! 😂😴

I'll see you on the other side!

Did anyone see the news about Dragons' Den last week? Well, we're thrilled because the ‘guest dragons’ are back and we had the amazing Emma Grede join us in the Den for filming. So, we celebrated afterwards with a few drinks (would have been rude not too)!

... When 6 dragons hit the town!

#DragonsDen #Dragons #Business

I’m at Newcastle Airport - travelling overseas for business FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE PANDEMIC!

I’ve got mixed emotions I’ll not lie……

On one hand I’m absolutely thrilled that the world is ‘returning to normal’ enough for me to be travelling again (I’m flying out to Dusseldorf to present live on QVC Germany as opposed to streaming in live from our studio at CCHQ which is what I’ve done the last 2.5 years)

And on the other hand I’m frustrated that I’m away from home and the kids 2 nights, going to be travelling for 15 hours (round trip) and losing essentially 2.5 working days to present for 1 hour whereas when I stream live from the studio it’s about 3 hours total out of a working day.

I feel the change in ways of working (and for me ways of streaming live TV) have really come a long way in the last 2 years and it’s enabled me to be so much more efficient and cram so much more into my schedule - I’ve never worked as hard and achieved as much with my time in my whole life, but also also never had as much quality time with the family…..

But then I also believe that business is about relationships so getting back to seeing people, (buyers, customers, friends and colleagues) face to face will be invaluable.

Hopefully we all manage to find new hybrid ways of working going forward that encompass everything that was great before the pandemic, plus the innovative ways of working that we’ve learnt over the past few years.

Who agrees?

#businesstravel #worklifebalance

Omg what a night! I can’t tell you how incredible Strictly Live was last night! Getting to perform in front of a North Eastern home crowd who supported us from day one on our Strictly journey was something else.

Hearing the crowd screaming my name vibrating the walls of the arena was something I’ll never forget.

This experience has been totally incredible and I will treasure it forever 💜

Can’t wait to do it all again tonight!!

Had an amazing time last night catching up with this one…… it’s been too long! We talked the hind legs off a donkey (well I did, poor lad didn’t get a word in edgeways 🤣), I found out all about his exciting new adventures at Channel 5 TV, filled him in on my last series of Dragons and all the other exciting stuff I’ve got coming up, and then we reminisced about our amazing time on strictly and how much we miss seeing all our friends from there! Was the perfect evening!

I know we’ve only known each other less than a year, but you know when someone comes into your life and you just click….. same values, same positive outlook on life, same family ethos, same work ethic….. and you just know you’re gonna be great friends forever…… that’s Mister Walker and I love him to bits for it! #datenight #catchup #friendship #strictly

So a few months ago, I had the pleasure of being asked to join Robson Green (who is just the loveliest guy ever btw) for his new series BBC Two series, Robson Green’s Weekend Escapes. He’s got tons of amazing North East-born people joining him for the show, including Rosie Ramsay, Jill Scott and my mate Steph McGovern to name but a few! And each of us take Robson to a different part of our fantastic region to take a look at some of the brilliant locations, businesses and people that exist there.

The series is part of the BBC’s investment to make programmes and content across all parts of the UK, with a significant part of that based in the North East. As most people know, I am unbelievably proud of where I come from so while I had an amazing time filming my episode for the show, I think this project is amazing because it’s a sign of so many more great things to come.

You can catch the first episode of the show tonight at 6.30pm on BBC Two!

#people #northeast #project #tv #bbc

Exciting week ahead…. We’re back on set filming for the next series of Dragons’ Den!

This is going to be my 5th season, my 5th year in that chair and I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am and what a privilege it is to be back!

We have absolutely no idea what is about to walk through those lift doors, and every year we have the same discussions between us dragons… ‘they can’t possibly top last year’ - and every year they absolutely blow us away with the calibre of businesses they put in front of us!

Can’t wait to see what this season holds! Watch this space I’ll keep you posted!

#dragonsden

“Reach down me bra and take it off”

Yes I actually said that on live TV tonight! 🤦🏼‍♀️

Never gonna live that down am I!?!

Never a dull moment on Crafter's Companion TV!

Well, last night's episode of Dragons’ Den was a corker - Peter quite literally roped me into a joint investment! ⚓️

Though not quite sure what we’re doing here 😂

Who was watching?

You can tell we're on the 4th day in a row of Dragons' Den filming... late nights and early starts calls for in-exorbitant amounts of industrial strength concealer 😬🙄🤪

One of my most favourite 'jobs' (or best hat to wear!) is being an investor in other amazing businesses. It’s something that I’ve done for over 15 years now, but for the last four years that i've been on Dragons' Den I've expanded my portfolio and been able to get involved in more businesses than ever before and I just love it!

This week i've had catchups with some of my amazing investees from Series 18 of the Den - who remembers these guys? Helen Davies from EasyTots has an incredible range of innovative baby weaning solutions, Kate and Matt from Mini First Aid provide life saving training to hundreds of thousands of kids and parents across the UK, and Tom and James from Willsow have the most incredible range of plantable children's books, teaching kids all about sustainability and where their food comes from!

I have an amazing and varied portfolio of investments but every time I have a meeting with one of my businesses I come away feeling energised and excited about what's ahead! Business is tough for a lot of companies at the moment, and it's the ones thinking outside of the box and innovating in the ways they do business that are succeeding right now.

I’m so proud of not only these guys, but all my investments for everything they're achieving at the moment.

If you want to find out more about any of my investment companies then they’re all on my webite sara-davies.com and anyone thinking about applying for the Den - go on, what are you waiting for? Applications are open now for series 21! I’ll pop the link in the comments!

I was up in Newcastle recently so I took the opportunity to have a face-to-face catch up with Sophie Milliken who, in addition to being the founder and CEO at her own company Moja, is also the Chair at Smart Works Newcastle.

I’ve spoken before about how impressed I’ve been with everything Sophie’s done for Smart Works Newcastle and with good reason because the charity has experienced record results this year, helping more women than ever to secure employment. So, I wanted to hear all about the results they were experiencing, to reflect on the amazing work the team are doing and to also understand how I can help more.

If you're not aware of what Smart Works Newcastle does, the charity supports women into employment through interview clothing and coaching. I really would encourage people to go follow them on their socials to find out more about the fantastic work they do in our region, and if you want to get involved you can find out how!

#work #opportunity #northeast #charity #northern

Here’s a bit more about what I’m up to with Comic Relief this year and what motivated me to want to get involved! Wish me luck 🤣


#comicrelief #rednoseday #arcticcircle #snowgoingback

I am a firm believer in the theory that you are a product of the people you surround yourself with - and I was very lucky to be able to spend a fair amount of time last year with Olympic champion Adam Peaty

I learned a lot from him in that time around mindset, and when I saw something pop up on my Instagram feed earlier this week that he was the latest interviewee on my friend Aimee Fuller’s podcast, I decided I would listen to that just to give myself a bit of a refresher!

You know it was only a short interview and I learnt so much in that half an hour. I was driving while listening to it and I had to pull over to take notes I found it that inspiring! See below for a few of the bullet points I made, and I highly recommend if you’re looking for a bit of motivation then it’s half an hour of your time well spent!

(Oh and while you’re on she had another awesome guest on just a few weeks ago who you might want to look up….. 😉)

My notes of great topics covered….
- energy exchange
- the best relationships are the ones based on respect
- you’re in your prime when you think you’re in your prime
- mindset is EVERYTHING
- have respect for your competitors but swim your own race
- music is an emotional manipulator
- do what you do for yourself not anyone else
- when motivation fails, discipline should kick in - if discipline fails then you need to revert back to the purpose

(I told you it was full of good stuff!) #motivation #people #energy #podcast #interview #respect #adampeaty #mindset

This morning was one of my highlights of the Christmas calendar and something I look forward to every year - so much so that I beg the school for to know as much in advance as possible so that its guaranteed that I can always be there for it. And, it most certainly didn’t disappoint! It was the school nativity!

I’m really proud of myself, I managed to keep it together all the time the kids could see me (but was a blubbering wreck in the car on the way home!)

I bloody love Christmas - everything from the school nativity, to crafting with the kids, having five thousand round on Christmas Day, nights out with old friends you’ve not seen for ages, Christmas jumpers…… the lot! For me, it really is the most wonderful time of the year!

#christmas #nativity #schoolnativity #christmas2022 #festiveseason

The last few days have been an absolute whirlwind of intensive training, full safety briefings and getting to grips with the fat-bikes, the snow-shoes and the cross country skis.

And we had our first real experience of just how extreme the weather can get up here in the Arctic - it’s amazing how quickly the conditions can change as the wind and snow move in. ❄

It’s so incredibly cold that we’ve even had training on how to layer up and keep warm. There’s a huge amount of kit and it has to be layered in the right way, so I’ve been training myself to take base, mid and top layers off in the correct order so I know how to put it all back on!

We’re headed to the start line today, and I couldn’t have asked for three better women to have alongside me.

 I’d never met any of them before, but it already feels like we’ve known each other for years and I can tell we’re absolutely going to get each other through this challenge for Comic Relief

So that’s it, we’re all kitted up, toasty warm and ready to set off!

Please donate if you can… comicrelief.com/sara

Women can achieve amazing things, in business and life.

Earlier in the week, I met with Professor Kiran Trehan at the University of York and we got to chatting about our experiences, past and present, as women in the world of business.

I was there to receive an Honorary Degree, and one of the reasons I was nominated was for inspiring and showing opportunities to young female entrepreneurs.

So, I’m delighted that Kiran Trehan and the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) are inviting female entrepreneurs in York & North Yorkshire to complete this survey.

I’d really encourage you to take a few minutes to share your views, so that the support you need to thrive can be put in place.

https://lnkd.in/em6DMs5m