Partner Article

New partnership brings exciting news for crafters

A North East craft giant has announced a strategic partnership with another UK-based art and craft company to cater for growing customer demands.

Newton Aycliffe craft retailer Crafter’s Companion and Sherborne-based art and craft company Imagination Crafts will join forces to provide an expanded product offering alongside the introduction of exciting new product ranges.

Bringing together two of the UK’s leading craft brands, the exclusive partnership combines the retail success of Crafter’s Companion with the experience of respected industry professionals and Imagination Crafts owners, Sue and Harvey Baker.

Crafter’s Companion founder Sara Davies, MBE, said: “Sue and Harvey have been in the industry for more than 25 years, having previously worked with shopping channels QVC and Create & Craft, and are well respected by both industry professionals and consumers.

“The unique range of mixed-media products offered by Imagination Crafts, which is currently among Hochanda’s top 10 biggest suppliers, can be used for home décor and creative textiles as well as cardmaking and papercraft, so it’s a versatile range that I’m sure our customers will love. I’m thrilled to be working with them.”

Sue Baker, originally from Hexham, started her design career in the theatre before studying interior design. She then moved onto working for a TV production company with husband Harvey on TV shows like Changing Rooms, Home Front, This Morning and Lorraine.

Sue and Harvey then set up their own specialist shops in London and became the biggest producers of MDF, stencils and paint products at that time, working with high-profile clients and celebrities as well as the forerunners of creative crafting and paint experts like Annie Sloan and Jocasta Innes.

After being approached by a number of craft companies, Sue and Harvey began to design and produce craft products for the UK and European craft markets, and when they moved back to the North East of England 16 years ago, they opened their own stores and continued to produce innovative craft products available in shops, online and on TV shopping channels.

“We’ve grown to be a really popular and well-respected brand” said Sue, “and have always prided ourselves on keeping a personal touch. We’ve now reached a point where we want to expand our product range even further and make it more widely available.

“Teaming up with a company as successful and innovative as Crafter’s Companion is the perfect way to do that. The partnership means that I can focus on my passion for product design to offer crafters a great combination of top-quality products across a wide variety of applications and techniques, whilst benefitting from the business acumen and loyal retail following that Crafter’s Companion has built up.

“I’m really excited to be working with Sara and her talented team to bring you some amazing new products and of course it’s great to bring the brand back with me to the North East.”

Crafter’s Companion is a global craft supplies company which sells its products globally online, on TV shopping channels, via independent retailers and in its own UK retail stores in Newton Aycliffe, Chesterfield and Evesham.

For further information please visit: www.crafterscompanion.co.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Kate Hindhaugh .