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Entrepreneur Sara Davies to share business success secrets at UK Construction Week London

Businesswoman and television personality, Sara Davies MBE is ready to breathe fire into UK Construction Week London (ExCeL, May 7th-9th), as the latest high-profile speaker to be announced at the UK’s biggest event for the built environment.

​The entrepreneur and founder of Crafter’s Companion will make her construction show debut when she appears as a keynote speaker on Day Two (May 8th) of UKCW London, when she will reveal her lessons learnt as a successful entrepreneur.

​Drawing upon her expertise in product innovation, design, and manufacturing, Sara will also join a discussion panel including heads of innovation funds and incubators from industry, academia and venture capitalist funding, Hannah Haeffner, National Recovery & Recycling Manager, Tarmac, and Scott Marshall of Property Elevator and Roma Finance.

​Sara joins an impressive line-up of speakers at this year’s UKCW London, which also features former England international footballer Trevor Steven; Andrew Lewer MP; architect and TV presenter George Clarke; Ron Lang, Regional Director, Atkins Réalis; Michaela Wain, Ambassador for Women in Construction and owner, Design and Build UK.

​Sam Patel, Divisional Director – Construction, commented: “To secure Sara as a speaker at UKCW is a major coup – her business nous and words of wisdom will be invaluable for so many business leaders, young talent and emerging innovators who will be visiting UK Construction Week from across the built environment sector – I can’t wait to hear what she has to say.”

UKCW London will see a myriad new features for 2024, including the debut of a new Live Demo Theatre; Skills and Training Hub; a construction-specific Recruitment Zone; new C-Suite Summits; a ‘Gumball Rally’ which finishes at UKCW London; a host of international exhibitors housed in pavilions from Italy, India, China, Turkey, Czech Republic, Poland, and Latvia.

The award-winning show is once again co-located with Concrete Expo and The Offsite Show, as well as the UK’s premier event for the self-build sector, Grand Designs Live.

Registration for UKCW London is now live (and free) through the new-look website.

The London show is complemented by its sister event, UKCW Birmingham, which takes place at the NEC from October 1-3.

The NEC was the birthplace of UK Construction Week in 2015 and the trade show has grown to become the UK’s largest built environment event. Details on the Birmingham programme of events and speakers will be announced in due course, but exhibition space is already filling up – to enquire for your business, contact  [email protected]

To find out more about both shows and to register for UKCW London for free, visit https://ukcw-london-2024.reg.buzz/cab-pr

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Notes to editors

Notes to editors About UKCW Organised by Media 10 – the multi award-winning events and publishing company, UK Construction Week (UKCW) is the UK’s largest built environment event. Running twice per year in London (7-9 May 2024, Excel London) and Birmingham (1-3 October 2024, NEC Birmingham), the event attracts an engaged audience from all sectors of the construction industry to share knowledge, solve problems, and explore new, sustainable ways of working. UKCW also plays host to 100s of companies showcasing their latest innovation, products and services. For stand and sponsorship enquiries visit www.ukconstructionweek.com/exhibit ​ Social Media  About Sara Davies Sara Davies MBE is the founder and creative director of Crafter’s Companion. She was born in Coundon to entrepreneurial parents, Frank and Susan, and today lives in County Durham with her husband Simon and her children, Oliver and Charlie. ​ Sara established Crafter’s Companion while studying for a Business Management degree at York University. During a placement at a small craft company, she spotted a gap in the market for a tool that could create bespoke envelopes for handmade cards. With help from her retired engineer father, Sara designed and launched a ground-breaking craft product called The Enveloper. ​ Today, Crafter’s Companion is a household name in the industry. It has expanded its range of papercraft products to include sewing and needlecraft items, in addition to its own brand of art materials, Spectrum Noir. The company designs, manufactures and sells its craft-related products to customers across 40 countries and employs more than 200 people worldwide. It continues to celebrate its North East roots, with a head office, warehouse and store in County Durham, and has established stores in Chesterfield and Evesham. Crafter’s Companion also has a US head office and warehouse in Corona, California. ​ Crafter’s Companion has appeared in the Sunday Times’ SME Export Track 100 list four times. It ranked at number 73 in 2019, 31 in 2018, after experiencing 72% year-on-year-growth in export sales, 52 in 2017 and number 26 in 2015. ​ Sara has also been recognised in the ‘Who’s Who of Britain’s Business Elite’, CNBC’s UK’s ‘Top Ten Brilliant Entrepreneurs’ and received the Creative Entrepreneur of the Year at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards. ​ In 2016, Sara was presented with an MBE in the Her Majesty’s Birthday Honours List, for services to the economy. ​ In 2019, she was named as the youngest entrepreneur to join BBC One’s Dragons’ Den and she danced her way to week seven on series 19 of Strictly Come Dancing with her partner Aljaž Škorjanec in 2021. Sara has written two books, her autobiography – We Can All Make It – and a step-by-step craft project book Craft Your Year which was released in October 2023. ​ In 2024 Sara was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of the University of York, where she first studied for her Bachelor’s Degree.  Alongside Vicky Pattison, Laura Whitmore and Alex Scott, Sara completed Comic Relief’s first all-female celebrity challenge in February 2024, trekking four days across the Arctic to raise money for Red Nose Day. ​ The entrepreneur’s new show, Making It with Sara Davies helps aspiring inventors take their innovative ideas from paper to create fully functional, commercial products and will air on the BBC later in 2024.

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