Reporter Aditi Rane at British Wool in Bradford (Image: Andy Stenning/Daily Express)
If you’ve ever collapsed onto a London Underground seat after a long day, you’ve probably done so without realising you’re sitting on one of Britain’s quiet success stories. Beneath those bright moquette patterns, the cushion beneath you isn’t made of foam or plastic; it’s wool. And not just any wool, but home-grown, hand-graded, proudly British wool.
It’s one of those small details that says so much about who we are, that the same fleece which keeps sheep warm on Yorkshire hillsides ends up cushioning commuters hurtling through tunnels under London. As British Wool marks its 75th anniversary, I visited its Bradford depot to discover how this unassuming natural fibre weaves together centuries of skill, sustainability, and national pride.
Bradford has been synonymous with wool for generations, once the global capital of the trade. British Wool’s depot here doesn’t shout for attention, but as I step inside, the scent of lanolin and the hum of machinery instantly conjure the industry’s rich heritage.
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Graham Clark, director of marketing at British Wool (Image: Andy Stenning/Daily Express)
I’m greeted by Graham Clark, director of marketing, who smiles as he hands me a hi-vis vest. “People don’t realise it, but our wool goes into everything: carpets, mattresses, insulation, furnishings, even fashion. We even supply the wool used in the seats of the London Underground. It’s all graded and handled right here.”
British Wool, founded in 1950, represents around 35,000 sheep farmers across the UK, from the windswept coasts of Wales to the high glens of Scotland. Farmers deliver their fleeces to one of British Wool’s depot collection points, where each is weighed, sorted and sent to regional grading centres like Bradford.
“It’s the co-operative system that makes British Wool unique,” Clark explains. “We act as a collection and marketing body for our members. Many other countries don’t have that structure, farmers there have to sell individually. Here, every fleece gets pooled and sold together through our auctions. That gives us scale, traceability, and fairness.”
The result? More stability and better prices for farmers, and a guarantee that every part of the fleece is put to good use.
Inside the grading hall, the scene is almost hypnotic. Towering bales of wool, each tagged with its farm of origin, line the floor. Skilled graders work with practiced rhythm, their hands moving quickly through clouds of cream, brown, and grey.
Peter Wood, a senior grader who’s been with British Wool for three decades, pulls open a bale with a deft flick of a knife, releasing a faint, earthy aroma, the scent of countryside and rain.
Every fleece is assessed by hand. “We grade for length, fineness, colour, crimp, strength. It’s a skill you learn over years,” Peter explains. “No machine can do what we do. You have to feel it.”
Bradford is British Wool’s headquarter site (Image: Andy Stenning/Daily Express)
He and his team work through around six bales per person a day, each weighing roughly 350 kilos. As he picks through a fleece, I notice him pluck out small grey tufts and toss them casually onto the floor.
“Those are the bits we don’t want for high-end uses,” he says. “But they’re not wasted. Nothing is.”
Graham Clark chimes in with a grin: “That’s right, not a single gram is wasted. The wool you see swept up from the floor goes into things like insulation, underlay, and acoustic panels. British wool is circular by design, it’s sustainable, renewable and recyclable.”
When Peter shakes my hand afterward, I’m startled by how soft it feels. He laughs. “That’ll be the lanolin. Sheep’s wool is full of it, it’s nature’s moisturiser. After 30 years of grading, you end up with the softest hands.”
Wool has been part of human civilisation for over 8,000 years, but today it feels more relevant than ever. At a time when synthetic fibres dominate fast fashion and microplastics choke our oceans, wool stands out as a natural, biodegradable, and endlessly renewable alternative.
“Wool is not only one of the oldest fibres known to mankind,” reads a framed quote on the wall, attributed to King Charles III, “it is also one of the most beneficial.”
Peter Wood, senior wool grader (Image: Andy Stenning/Daily Express)
British Wool acts as a farmers’ collective (Image: British Wool)
And it’s not just sustainable, it’s ethical. British Wool prides itself on its high standards of animal welfare. The UK has long led the world in this area, from introducing the first animal welfare law in 1822 to the establishment of the ‘Five Freedoms’ in the 1960s. All wool sold through British Wool is from non-mulesed sheep, a painful practice outlawed in the UK since 2007.
“Our farmers care deeply for their animals,” says Clark. “Happy, healthy sheep produce the best wool. Our climate and breeds mean mulesing simply isn’t necessary here.”
Once the fleeces are graded, they’re packed into bales and sent for scouring, the washing process that removes grease and impurities. From there, they’re sold through British Wool’s unique auction system, where buyers from across the globe bid for specific grades and types.
The wool then finds its way into an astonishing range of products. There are the obvious ones such as luxury carpets, blankets, knitwear and tailoring fabrics, but also surprising modern uses mattresses and bedding (used by brands like John Lewis and Harrison Spinks), thermal and acoustic insulation for eco-homes, felted soundproofing panels for offices, gardening products, like wool compost and mulch mats, protective clothing for firefighters and military uniforms and the iconic moquette covers on London’s Tube seats.
British Wool’s mission is simple: to ensure all these uses trace back to the farm. “Every bale is traceable,” says Clark. “That’s increasingly important to brands and consumers. People want authenticity, they want to know where things come from.”
Traceable wool often commands a premium price, and that extra value goes directly back to the farmers who grew it.
Among the hum of activity, I meet Yeol Hernandez, an apprentice grader from the Dominican Republic. Wearing protective gloves and a wide smile, he’s busy helping unpack bales.
Yeol Hernandez (Image: Andy Stenning/Daily Express)
“I came to the UK looking for work,” he tells me. “I didn’t even know what wool grading was. But once I started, I loved it, it’s real, physical work, and you learn to read the understand the wool over time.”
Yeol is part of a new generation being trained by veterans like Peter. “It’s a dying art in many places,” Peter says, watching him proudly. “But here, we’re passing it on. It takes about three years to become fully qualified. You need sharp eyes and good hands.”
At the heart of British Wool’s longevity lies its co-operative model. Unlike in other countries, where farmers must fend for themselves in volatile markets, British Wool pools the entire UK wool clip, marketing and selling it collectively.
It’s an approach that not only ensures fairer returns but also strengthens rural economies.
“Without these collection points,” Clark says, “many small farmers simply wouldn’t have access to global markets. We’re their bridge to the world.”
Wool built Britain. It funded cathedrals, universities, and entire towns, the wealth of the medieval and industrial eras flowed from the fleece. But far from being a relic of the past, today wool is enjoying a quiet renaissance.
Farmers shear they sheep and drop the wool off at a British Wool collection site (Image: British Wool)
In fashion, Vivienne Westwood, Barbour, and JW Anderson are championing traceable British fibres. In interiors, designers prize its warmth and texture. And in construction, its natural insulation properties are making it the eco-material of the moment.
British Wool’s role in that resurgence is vital. Through careful grading, sustainable sourcing, and its co-operative structure, it ensures that the story of British wool remains one of quality, care, and circularity.
Back in the grading hall, the floor is now dotted with soft piles of discarded grey wool. A grader sweeps it into a corner, where it will later be baled and sent off to be transformed into insulation.
I think of Graham’s words again: “Not a single gram is wasted.”
There’s something profoundly satisfying in that, in knowing that even the smallest tuft has a purpose, that every fibre finds a future. In an age of throwaway materials,
As British Wool celebrates its 75th anniversary, its mission feels more urgent than ever. This isn’t just an industry; it’s a living, breathing network of farmers, graders, apprentices, and artisans, people who care about doing things properly.
To support British wool is to support rural livelihoods, animal welfare, and a centuries-old craft that still keeps Britain warm from the hills of Cumbria to the seats of the Central line.
Next time you sink into that Tube seat, spare a thought for the sheep that made it possible, the hands that graded it, and the co-operative that keeps it all going.
Because British wool isn’t just under your feet or behind your back, it’s woven into the fabric of who we are.