British Wool has confirmed that an election will be held to select Northern Ireland’s regional representative on the board of the company.
It will be in effect from April 1 onwards and the successful candidate will represent Northern Ireland on the British Wool board over a three-year period.
The names of the election candidates that have been nominated are: Brendan Kelly, from Randalstown in Co. Antrim; Robert Burgess, from Saintfield in Co. Down, and Timothy Smith, from Banbridge in Co. Down.
The current representative from Northern Ireland on the board of British Wool is Brendan Kelly. His term of office concludes on March 31. Kelly holds the position of British Wool vice-chair.
Voting details will be sent to all registered Ulster Wool members on Thursday, January 18.
All votes must be placed by 6:00p.m on Thursday, February 8. Voting papers must also be received by this deadline.
It is envisaged the election process will be centred around the use of I.T technologies.
A combination of email addresses and mobile telephone numbers will be used to communicate with the 3,500 wool producers who would be registered in an election, if it were to be held.
Wool demand
Recent weeks have seen wool prices increase substantially, leading to confirmation from British Wool that producer prices will increase in 2024.
Driving all of this, is a growing demand for top quality woollen carpets in hotels, casinos and cruise lines. Woollen carpets are renowned for being particularly durable.
However, this is an international market which had languished in the doldrums during the entire period of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This trend has been reversed over the past 12 months. British Wool has been working closely with UK carpet manufacturers to ensure these businesses include the maximum amount of locally-produced wool in their products.
Meanwhile, in the UK and Ireland, there is a strong and growing demand for woollen garments.
There are also indicators that point to the natural properties of wool becoming a strong selling point.
Woollen carpets can be fully recycled, once they reach the end of their life cycle. This is not the case for carpets containing man-made fibres, including nylon.