British Wool Marketing Board

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The British Wool Marketing Board is the central marketing system for UK fleece wool. It tries to get the best net returns for farmers.

A farmer run organisation, the BWMB was established in 1950 to operate a central marketing system for UK fleece wool, with the aim of achieving the best possible net return for producers.

It is the only organisation in the world that collects, grades, sells & promotes fleece wool & the only remaining agricultural commodity board in the UK.

Receiving no financial support, although operating commercially, the BWMB is a non- profit making organisation, returning to producers the market price for their wool, less its own costs.

Its objectives are to:

Provide a secure market outlook for producers.
Stimulate demand by technical research, product development and promotion.
Improve the quality of the clip.
Provide an efficient marketing service from collection to auction.

[edit] Organisational Structure

Under the Wool Marketing Act of 1950, the BWMB is required to register all producers with four or more sheep with the exception of producers in Shetland, which has its own arrangement. There are currently 59,078 registered producers.

The Board of 9 elected producer members, representing 9 different areas of the UK, & 2 Government appointees, meets eight times a year and reports back to nine regionally elected committees.

Day to day operations are run from the Board's headquarters in Bradford, West Yorkshire with small regional offices in Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland.