In 1907, Harry Peach along with his friend Benjamin Fletcher set up Dryad Furniture. They designed and manufactured cane furniture. At the time, the market was dominated by European manufacturers, so Harry and Benjamin wanted to develop the local cane industry to compete and provide furniture suited more for the British market.

During World War 1, Harry Peach began promoting craft work as a form of occupational therapy for the wounded servicemen. After the world war, Harry identified a growing demand for craft materials for domestic and educational purposes. By 1936, Dryad Handicrafts went on to become the largest supplier of craft materials in the world.

In 1972, Dryad Handicrafts was taken over by Reeves & Sons. After the takeover the company went on to become known as Reeves Dryad. In 1974, the company was acquired by Reckitt and Colman who are famously known for household items including Colman’s Mustard! Reckitt and Colman hired over 100 staff and started producing and supplying Dryad craft kits for large catalogue retailers as well as wooden artist consumables such as easels.

During the mid 80’s, sales to the education sector started to decline and by the late 80’s, Winsor and Newton made the decision to close Reeves Dryad in Leicester in 1990. 
In 1991, Alan Beavon along with Paul Crick saw that there was still potential in continuing to sell art materials to schools and  made the decsions to move forward under a new name, Specialist Crafts.

In 2005, Dryad opened their Galway office in the Republic of Ireland to service this region and appointed John Costello as Sales Manager. By 2016, Dryad had expanded further and opened a distribution centre in Dubai, a strategic move to service their U.A.E. customer base and expand, led by Sandeep Khele.

In 2017, Specialist Crafts launched their X-Range Acrylic paint range. The range, specifically designed to match the quality of the big brands, quickly became the number one acrylic paint sold to education and is now recognised globally by artists and educators.

In 2020 the Beavon family decided to sell the business and David Edwards led a MBO. In 2021 the descision was taken to begin using the trading name of Dryad Education. Today, Dryad Education has over 100 years of experience supplying educational establishments worldwide with leading art, textile and design & technology brands, including their best-selling Specialist Crafts range.

In 2025, following customer feedback, Dryad Education rebranded to Specialist Crafts in the UK, returning to the trusted brand name recognised by art educators for generations.

In 1907, Harry Peach along with his friend Benjamin Fletcher set up Dryad Furniture. They designed and manufactured cane furniture. At the time, the market was dominated by European manufacturers, so Harry and Benjamin wanted to develop the local cane industry to compete and provide furniture suited more for the British market.

During World War 1, Harry Peach began promoting craft work as a form of occupational therapy for the wounded servicemen. After the world war, Harry identified a growing demand for craft materials for domestic and educational purposes. By 1936, Dryad Handicrafts went on to become the largest supplier of craft materials in the world.

During the mid 80’s, sales to the education sector started to decline and by the late 80’s the decision was made to close Reeves Dryad in Leicester in 1990. 

In 1991, Alan Beavon along with Paul Crick saw that there was still potential in continuing to sell art materials to schools and  made the decsions to move forward under a new name, Specialist Crafts.

In 2005, Dryad opened their Galway office in the Republic of Ireland to service this region and appointed John Costello as Sales Manager. By 2016, Dryad had expanded further and opened a distribution centre in Dubai, a strategic move to service their U.A.E. customer base and expand, led by Sandeep Khele.

In 2017, Specialist Crafts launched their X-Range Acrylic paint range. The range, specifically designed to match the quality of the big brands, quickly became the number one acrylic paint sold to education and is now recognised globally by artists and educators.

In 2020 the Beavon family decided to sell the business and David Edwards led a MBO. In 2021 the decision was taken to begin using the trading name of The Dryad Education Group. 

The Dryad Education Group has over 100 years of experience supplying educational establishments worldwide with leading art, textile and design & technology brands, including their best-selling Specialist Crafts range.

In 2025, we invested in the future of Specialist Crafts, building on decades of trust to create a stronger brand for the educators we serve today.