British Wool Marketing Board
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The British Wool Marketing Board operates the central marketing system for UK fleece wool. A farmer-run organisation, the BWMB was established in 1950 with the aim of achieving the best possible net return for producers. It is the only organisation in the world that collects, grades, sells and promotes fleece wool and is 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.
The BWMB's 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.
Organisational structure
Under the Wool Marketing Act 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. In October 2011 there were 59,078 registered producers.
The board of nine elected producer members, representing nine different areas of the UK, and two 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.