Multi-billion US retail giant Jo-Ann possible bidder for Ideal Shopping Direct 

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A multi-billion US stores giant is understood to be among the potential bidders for a British TV shopping firm that has cashed in on the growing interest in home crafts.

Ideal Shopping Direct has been put up for sale for £200million by corporate advisory firm DC Partners, which has drawn up a list of around 20 potential bidders. Ideal Shopping airs channels such as Create and Craft, Craft World and Ideal World.

The 790-strong US home crafts retail giant Jo-Ann Stores last year struck up a partnership to use Ideal Shopping's expertise for TV-led demonstrations in its stores and is considering the potential to cement that relationship further.

For sale: Ideal Shopping Direct has been put up for sale for £200million by corporate advisory firm DC Partners

The sale process, still at an early stage, comes amid a frenzy of interest in the UK’s domestic crafts market which has been boosted by BBC television shows The Great British Bake Off and The Great British Sewing Bee.

Big names have already been capitalising on the trend. John Lewis Partnership saw a surge in sales at its Waitrose chain last year after the Bake Off final. 

But its department store, one of the few to still have an haberdashery in its stores, has also seen a an influx of new knitting and sewing addicts.

Others retailers offering craft-related goods include Currys owner Dixons Retail which has increased its ranges of kitchen products to cater for cooking enthusiasts and fans of celebrity baker Mary Berry, while internet giant Amazon and supermarkets have also muscled in on the phenomenon.

The Craft and Hobby Association estimates the market is growing at about 12 per cent a year as kitchen table-based artisans buy kits and materials from big retailer and specialists alike.

‘It’s predominantly women at home who are crafting. We estimate there are about 18 million women between the age of 16 and 65 who are crafting on a regular basis - whether that is sewing, knitting, baking, or a whole list of other creative hobbies that people are taking up. That’s about 70 per cent of the female population involved in some way,’ said Craig De Souza, director at the UK Craft and Hobby Association.

Growing: The Craft and Hobby Association estimates the market is growing at about 12 per cent a year as kitchen table-based artisans buy kits and materials from big retailer and specialists alike

He says the market is now worth as much as £3.5 billion after recent growth that has been aided by interest from television personalities such as Kirstie Allsopp and celebrity knitters such as Kate Moss, Kristen Stewart, Julia Roberts and Darryl Hannah.

The success of marketplace web sites such as Etsy and Ebay and smaller rivals such as Craftsy and Folksy have also given crafters the potential to turn their time and developing skills into cash.

‘Kids spend a lot of time in front of screens these days but people are seeing the crafts market as an opportunity for families to do something creative together,’ said Ideal Shopping chief executive Mike Hancox, who formerly ran home shopping giant Freemans Grattan.

‘But people are also seeing this market as a business opportunity as we’ve seen with the success of Etsy,’ he said, referring to the float of the dotcom crafts market place in New York last month. Etsy’s share price almost doubled on its first day of trading taking the business to a value of $3.3 billion.

Hancox was parachuted into the company in 2008 to revive its fortunes. His team soon successfully tapped into the growth of a market and sales this year are expected to increase by around 10 per cent to £165 million. Profit are on track to grow up to 50 per cent this year to around £21 million.

Popular: The Ideal World channel, which airs on Sky, Freeview, Virgin and Freesat. also sells cosmetics such As Preciously Perfect by celebrity Patsy Kensit (pictured), home electronics and kitchen accessories

The Ideal World channel, which airs on Sky, Freeview, Virgin and Freesat. also sells cosmetics such As Preciously Perfect by celebrity Patsy Kensit, home electronics and kitchen accessories.

The company also operates websites such as Love Pets, Sew and gardening site Lead The Good Life.

But the main source of growth has been in selling craft ideas to television viewers on channels such as Create and Craft. Hancox said his company operates in just five categories of an estimated 33 craft categories. He said other sizeable target markets include Germany, Japan, Canada and Australia.

Hancox, whose management team own around 25 per cent of the business, told The Mail on Sunday that the process to sell the business, was still at an early stage.

But the potential for Ideal Shopping to tap into the massive £33 billion US home crafts market will not be lost on other potential bidders for the firm, despite the difficulties it is likely to face cutting through the myriad of channels on offer to US telly and craft addicts.

Hancox said: ‘We expect our sales in the US to equal the UK in four years but with the right support, through expertise, investment or a combination of both, we could achieve that more quickly,’ he said.

The combination of grass roots crafts and Wall Street money - as exemplified with the stock market listing of Etsy - has been described as ‘Artisan Capitalism’.

Divide: Analysts have said the tension between the creative culture and the need to increase sales to appease shareholders may prove contrary to the spirit of the home crafts market

However, some participants in the market have been disturbed by the increasing commercialisation of the home crafts market - including some of those selling on the Etsy market place.

Analysts have said the tension between the creative culture and the need to increase sales to appease shareholders may prove contrary to the spirit of the home crafts market despite its growing appeal as a supplementary source of cash.

Etsy has offered stock options to its vendors worth as much as $2,500 which they were offered via the companies corporate broker Morgan Stanley.

But despite the jump in the shares and rapid growth profits may be elusive. Potential bidders for Ideal Shopping - which is reported higher sales than Etsy’s $195 million last year - will at least have the comfort of knowing that they are buying a profitable business. Esty has warned of ‘significant losses’ to come.