UKFT Associate member British Wool’s fully traceable wool scheme
07/12/2023
UKFT Associate member British Wool is a UK-based farming co-operative that collects, grades, sells and promotes British wool across the world. It has developed a fully traceable wool scheme, from farm to shop, giving consumers the means to understand fully where the wool products they buy come from. Scroll down to find out more.
UKFT Associate member British Wool is a UK-based farming co-operative owned by 35,000 UK sheep farmers. It collects, grades, sells and promotes British wool to the UK and international wool textile industry, for use in the flooring, furnishing and apparel sectors. Its overarching goals are to promote this natural fibre, its wide range of uses and characteristics, and to champion the farmers while offering buyers peace of mind when purchasing British wool.
Andrew Hogley, CEO of British Wool, commented:
“Our purpose is to champion British wool and the farmers who produce this amazing, natural fibre, whilst promoting every aspect of wool production and usage.
There are six key principles to British Wool that not only make it unique, they offer buyers peace of mind that the product they are purchasing is truly the right choice.”
The six key principles implemented by British Wool ensure that its wool and practices are:
- Kind to animals
- Environmentally sustainable
- Quality assured
- Traceable
- Socially responsible
- All wool is non-mulesed
Why wool?
In comparison to synthetic fibres that can take up to 40 years to degrade, wool degrades in a fraction of that time. Wool products also last longer, thanks to wool’s natural crimp and elasticity that can withstand continuous wear. In addition, wool requires less frequent washing, which contributes to prolong its lifespan. Haldi Kranich-Wood, Business Development Manager at British Wool, said:
“The Government Environmental Audit Committee recently announced plans to work closely with major fashion chains in order to reduce plastic waste and encourage recycling and are calling on the fashion industry to create a demand for longer life garments, along with a ban on dumping clothes in landfill. As a result, these two key actions could see the increase in using natural fibres, like wool.”
A fully traceable wool scheme
British Wool has put in place a 100% traceable wool scheme allowing to trace the origin of the wool, from farm to shop. This gives consumers the means to fully understand where the wool products they are purchasing comes from. Graham Clark, Director of Marketing at British Wool, said:
“Our scheme allows consumers to fully understand where the wool in the products they are purchasing is from. It also gives them peace of mind that the farmer has received a premium payment for their wool.”
100% of the wool handled by British Wool comes from British farms. The co-operative offer supply chain verification as well as regional and farm traceability. “British Wool has eight Grading Depots across the UK, all of the wool sold can be traced back to a specific Depot and give regional traceability,” said Graham.
Meeting high standards of quality assurance
The UK is home to over 60 native breeds and many cross breeds of sheep. Determining the grade of wool is therefore essential to help buyers ensure that the wool they purchase is fit for its end usage.
For this purpose, all wool received by British Wool is graded by hand into 100 different grades. This grading system identifies the style and quality of the wool. It is tested for micron, colour and dry yield to international standards, before it can be sold. Billy Hewitson, Head of Operations at British Wool, said:
“Each of our fully qualified graders has trained for a minimum of three years and been through a rigorous assessment process to ensure we deliver our customers a consistent, quality product year after year.
In addition, each lot is fully independently tested to IWTO standards by the Wool Testing Authority Europe to certify yield, micron, colour and vegetable matter.
This ensures the supply chain can trust the quality of the wool they are using, which in turn helps create durable and stunning products.”
Find out more about British Wool:
About UKFT Associate membership
Associate Membership is open to organisations who are specialists in their areas of expertise and can offer tangible and membership enhancing benefits to UKFT members. For more information and to discuss how your organisation may be able to work with UKFT, please contact membership@ukft.org.