On hit BBC show Dragons’ Den, her empathetic approach to dealing with entrepreneurs has earned her a reputation as ‘the nicest dragon’.
However, at her Teesside home, some things are non-negotiable for Sara Davies.
The tycoon, 41, has revealed that she confiscates the mobile phones of her children’s friends when they come round for play dates.
‘I have a box at the front door so when they come to my house, they put their phones and iPads in the box and it stays in my bedroom,’ reveals the TV investor, who has two sons, Oliver, 11, and Charlie, eight, with her husband, Simon Davies.
‘I like to be the fun mam where the other kids come around and I get pizzas, [but] I’ve seen it where the kids come and have phones and iPads and one of them will withdraw and sit on their iPad,’ explains Sara, adding: ‘I say, ‘If you need to ring your mam later or anything like that, you can come and ask me.’
The County Durham-born businesswoman, currently taking a break from the BBC investment series after six years in the den, is the founder of craft supply company Crafter’s Companion, which is estimated to be worth £37million.
‘No one complains. They’re outside playing football, they merge so much better – and they communicate,’ Sara says of her regime, though she proceeds with caution.
‘I don’t want the other parents to think that I’m judging them because they’ve let their kid [have a smartphone]… I’m too nervous to say anything about it in the school WhatsApp group.’
Sara is not the only prominent mother opposed to children having smartphones: Peep Show star Sophie Winkleman continues to lobby the Government to ban them for under-16s.
Sophie, the wife of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent’s son Lord Frederick Windsor, says it’s ‘impossible’ to protect children from the risks of smart phone, such as eyesight damage, sextortion and exposure to violent content.
‘I tell the kids, ‘tell your mam that you don’t have your phone at my house but if she needs you she can ring me,’ Sara adds. The Dragon makes clear: ‘Don’t ask, don’t judge, but my house, my rules.’
Rita scalded by industry misogyny
Pop star Rita Ora, who shot to fame aged 18 when she signed to US rapper Jay-Z’s record label Roc Nation, has spoken out about the ‘gross’ misogyny she’s suffered at the hands of unnamed record label bosses.
‘They have this power that makes us want to impress them so we can get a record deal,’ the Londoner, 34, says.
‘There have been moments where they’ve overused their power and shown off to me in meetings in my earlier years.’
Ora, who is married to New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi, 49, recalls one incident with a male executive.
‘I walked in, I was 16, and he listened to my music for, like, two seconds, turned it off and threw his credit card and said, “Go get inspired” – basically, go buy some CDs.’
She adds: ‘I just felt so gross and upset because you don’t have to do that to a kid.
‘You can simply say, “you need to work more and little bit harder and come back when you’ve got something else”.’
Gallagher rolls with top hat at Ascot
Liam Gallagher has admitted that he wears his beloved parka coat even while gardening.
But the Oasis star’s son is cut from a different cloth.
Lennon Gallagher, 25, wore a morning suit and top hat at Royal Ascot, pictured left. He was joined by his girlfriend, the model Isobel Richmond, 22, who wore a pink dress by Self-Portrait.
Aspiring singer Lennon, whose mother is Liam’s first wife Patsy Kensit, has been dating Kentucky-born Isobel for three years, but she says it wasn’t love at first sight.
‘Lennon and I didn’t gel when we first met,’ Isobel says. ‘I talk a lot when I’m nervous and he’s…the opposite.’
Marina’s health scare after baby
Fly-fishing guide Marina Gibson’s joy at giving birth to her first child earlier this year turned to alarm after she had to return to hospital for surgery.
Marina, 34, who has made fly-fishing fashionable and is said to have inspired Sir David Beckham to take it up, reveals: ‘At my first scan, they discovered a 10cm ovarian cyst. By the time they operated, it was an epic 16cm.
‘They had to remove the ovary along with the cyst. Thankfully the other ovary is healthy.’
Beyonce and Jay-Z ‘make a secret visit to Oxfordshire’
The Cotswolds may soon have another famous resident.
In April, I revealed that Beyonce was interested in buying a home in the area.
Now, the Texan-born pop superstar and her husband, the rapper Jay-Z, have made a secret visit to Oxfordshire.
‘In the past week, Beyonce and Jay-Z flew via helicopter between her London gigs to view a 58-acre plot of land,’ a source tells the Oxford Mail.
Sunak’s £53,000 hourly rate
Married to a billionaire’s daughter, he scarcely needs the money, but Rishi Sunak is coining it in nevertheless.
I hear that the former prime minister pocketed almost £350,000 for two talks he gave on the speakers’ circuit.
Sunak, 45, was paid £156,435 by Makena Capital, a US investment fund, and £188,476 by Korean firm ChosunMedia, for talks undertaken last month.
This takes his reported earnings from speaking engagements to just over £505,000.
Rishi declared his latest takings in an update to the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.
It comes after he disclosed a fee of £160,750 from US firm Bain Capital on the register in April.
His hourly rate across 9.5 hours for the three talks comes in at more than £53,000.
Mia’s ‘nepo baby’ push back is undermined
Mia Threapleton’s insistence that she is no ‘nepo baby’ has been undermined by the director of her latest film.
Wes Anderson reveals that he cast her in The Phoenician Scheme after he identified Mia’s mother, Kate Winslet, taking part in her audition tape – even though the Oscar winner tried to hide her identity.
‘I realised it was Kate doing a cockney accent and pretending to be a casting director,’ he says.
‘I thought: “I bet they worked on the scene together, and she’s been directed by Kate Winslet.”‘
