New project aims to increase demand for wool

Feb 23 2010 By Kelley Price and Sarah Dale, Evening Gazette, nebusiness.co.uk

From farmers to fashionistas, could the Wool Project be good news for Teesside business. Kelley Price and Sarah Dale report.

PRINCE Charles claims British farmers are being fleeced by falling wool prices.

And now HRH is leading a cavalry of top names in retail, textiles, interiors and the green industries to boost its popularity.
The Wool Project aims to bring the fashion, carpet and textile industries together to increase demand for wool and raise its worth to upland farmers.

But can this Royal-led campaign really stop generations of decline?

Demand for wool is so low that Teesside farmers are forced to clip their sheep at a loss - a far cry from a medieval Golden Age when the fluffy stuff was England’s greatest national asset and export.

But Teesside’s fashion creatives and green crusaders say today’s synthetic world has manufactured a yearning for all things natural - and wool is still a hot product.

Campaigners believe one nod from the trendsetters could turn the industry’s ailing fortunes around.

The campaign has attracted a global consortium including Condé Nast publications, whose titles include Vogue and Vanity Fair, high street big hitters such as John Lewis and Marks and Spencer and wool producers in Australia and New Zealand.   INSERT VIDEO

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“We want consumers to buy more wool,” said John Thorley chairman of the National Sheep Association. “It’s a great product - natural and sustainable, it’s warmer and wears better than man-made materials, but if we don’t use it we’ll lose it.

“We are tuning up all the different parts of the industry from carpets to insulation to raise the profile of wool. In fashion in particular, wool has a special cachet.”

But Teesside farmer Ray Wilson, who runs A&R Wilson at Hall Farm, Nunthorpe, and keeps 300 sheep, tells a different story.

Both he and his son, Ian, who has followed his dad into the family business, see wool trading as a necessary evil.

“We clip the sheep purely on welfare grounds,” said Ray. “If we could get away without doing it we would. Last year we actually lost money. Wool is a negative side of the business.

“We also have to wait a year to get paid.

“We receive a small amount upfront and the rest once it’s sold.

“There has been a definite decline, there’s more wool product than there is demand for it.”

But he believes The Wool Project is a good idea as “whatever it achieves will be a help”.

“Whether it’s increasing demand for the low-quality wool, the likes of insulation and stuffing, so the better quality product isn’t over-supplied,” he added.

“Wool is a fabulous product. It’s natural, low-carbon to produce, it’s renewable and it’s soft. But man-made fibres have taken over.”
Farmer Mike Corrigan, also from Nunthorpe, said: “This is certainly not the 1500s when the wealth of Britain’s aristocratic families and its abbeys was founded on the wool trade. If we could increase the price of wool, it would be great - everything helps.”

Peter Hull, chief executive of farming supplies company Farmway, takes a pragmatic view.

“Farmers have to shear the sheep, but more often than not it costs the farmer more money to shear than he gets back for the wool.

“The infrastructure isn’t there, the wool has to be shipped quite far to be graded.

“It’s a niche product now. If you’re wearing a wool jumper, chances are the ticket inside won’t be for a local company.

“But there are examples where this initiative could work.

“With Government support, and in an ideal world, we can help kickstart the industry. You can’t create the demand, though, it has to be there in the first place.

“It would be far more beneficial to the farmer if wool was more valuable. But the reality is, at the  moment the finances are very much against it.”

But can the good moral fibre of the environmentalists - not to mention the looming green agenda - help increase wool’s popularity?

Doubtful, says farmer Mr Wilson. When you get down to the nitty gritty, cost is always a factor.

“If you ask 100 people to do something good for the environment, 99 will say yes - but look in their baskets at the checkout and most of them will have gone for the cheapest items not the greenest ones. It always comes down to costs.”

But he’s reckoned without some fundamental sea changes in the construction industry, according to architect Adrian Taylor, of Stokesley firm P&HS Architects.

He believes it’s only a matter of time before products with ultra-low carbon life cycles, like wool, become mainstream.

P&HS used sheepswool in its design of the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate, even down to natural sheepswool carpets sourced from a herd just down the road.

“Wool has got a fair bit going for it,” says Mr Taylor.

“At the moment, there has to be a desire from the client to use it - if we were designing an industrial building, we probably wouldn’t.

“But if we were embarking on a project that pushed the environmental agenda, we’d always consider it.

“But we are heading towards zero carbon homes by 2016, which requires a more holistic approach - far more than just bolting on wind turbines or photovoltaic panels to the roof.

“The point where we’ll achieve economies of scale for green products is coming. The drivers are there. 

“There is a lot of support for wool as insulation from organisations such as the National Trust at the moment.

“It’s a great product, it’s not the most thermally efficient but it’s breathable. It’s more expensive but not grossly so, and it’s sustainable and locally sourced.”

Mr Taylor believes the balance is changing.

“We are having to focus more on the life cycle costings of products we use, everything from production, to transporting it, to what happens after you’re finished with it. Wool can be recycled easily, which really transforms its costings.

“Wool will become a mainline alternative product, not just a quirky green product.

“The Wool Project is a good thing, without a doubt. Our farmers need our support, and once the market is in place, there can be a concentrated effort to guarantee production levels.”

Woolly support

THE Wool Project is a national campaign fronted by HRH Prince Charles to encourage people to buy more wool products, from carpets to clothing and home insulation.
It has attracted the backing of wool grower organisations the world over, including the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Campaigns by big retail names including Marks and Spencer will be launched later this year, and Wool Week is also being held in October.

Natural way to living in comfort

TEESSIDE carpetmaker Whitestone Weavers is one of only a few companies in the world producing 100% wool carpets.

The Hartlepool firm, which distributes across the UK, Europe and the States, launched its successful Nature’s Own range in 2008 and followed it up with the Natural Tones collection.

MD Steve Byrne claims wool costs are competitive compared to other materials.

“Our product is 100% biodegradeable and we use natural latex backing instead of synthetic. 

“Wool is a much nicer material to work with, its feels and smells better.

“People don’t realise the carpets they buy are often made with plastic these days, which is very damaging and can sit in landfill for a long time. If you ask a customer ‘would you like to buy a plastic carpet or a wool carpet’ it’s obvious what they will say.

“I’m 100% behind the Wool Project. England has the best techniques to manufacture wool products, but we became expensive. Now we’re getting better and we’re fighting back.”