My Country Business Awards, a competition run by Country Homes & Interiors (CH&I), a home interiors publication has partnered British Wool, to promote entrepreneurs to move their businesses forward.
British Wool will be the major sponsor of the competition which has six categories; Interiors, Retail Services, Hospitality and Leisure, Craft, Food and a new Award for Emerging Talent using British Wool.
The six winners will receive three mentoring sessions each from experts and valuable coverage within the magazine which has a readership of over 320,000 and also a huge online and social media following.
The magazine celebrates female entrepreneurs that ‘do what they love and love what they do’ and has a track record of helping young businesses build identity and gain new customers.
British Wool, which is owned and run by up approximately 50,000 sheep farmers in the UK, symbolises the importance of country based businesses, which are mostly run from the farmhouse.
The UK has more sheep breeds than any other country in the world and has the greatest natural diversity in both shade and texture in wool available to the textile sector.
“This aspect of British Wool is increasingly interesting to young designers looking for a unique story that will enhance their product,” British Wool Marketing Board said in a press release.
“We felt the ethos of this competition complemented the origin and story of British Wool perfectly,” said Bridgette Kelly of The Campaign for Wool and the business mentor for the British Wool category.
She added, “Many of our farmers are evolving their own businesses and developing additional strands to their traditional farming activity.
“In many cases this has become a necessity because farming is a tough industry but they also have a unique knowledge of rural life that is increasingly a strong trend, so it makes sense to be multi faceted.”
The British Wool award for Emerging Talent aims to encourage those people that have chosen wool from British sheep breeds in the UK to make their products and are carving a niche.
“We see amazing enthusiasm from designers and students for British Wool, genuinely talented people creating amazing textiles and so we look forward to seeing the entries to this exciting Award,” Kelly noted.
The British Wool Marketing Board is responsible for the selling by auction, marketing and promotion of British Wool from UK sheep.
It is the UK’s largest co-operative and is owned and run by sheep farmers with representative committees from across the country.
British Wool is regarded as a high quality fibre that will be used in a wide range of products across the world, but is particularly noted for its strength and mostly used in carpets, rugs and upholstery.
