| 41 Trust Tairāwhiti: Wisewool REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Exploring new and wiser uses for strong wool Adding value to wool was the way forward for Wisewool. T T Virginia Wright 06 867 9290 | 337 Childers Road, PO Box 1288, Gisborne 4010 admin@jacksonblakeman.co.nz | www.jacksonblakeman.co.nz Specialists in helping you achieve your business goals. Proud to supportWiseWool We provide a mix of integrated accountancy & consultancy services to empower your business. 06 835 1086 textiles@nzwta.co.nz nzwta.co.nz Call our team to discuss your testing requirements. Your trusted laboratory partner. Flooring | Upholstery | Apparel | Wool | Safety Products While the company Wisewool may be relatively new its roots date back to 1894 when a recent arrival to Gisborne from the UK, William Henry Smith, noticed as he cleared gorse in the area that no-one was collecting the wool from the various flocks scattered around. So began the Gisborne Wool Company as W.H. Smith went into business collecting the wool from farmers, drying it out in the sun, and sending it off to auction in the UK. Fast forward to more recent times and direct descendants of W.H. Smith, Nicky and Henry Hansen, are still living on the land in Hexton where he dried those early fleeces. Their son Angus (25) and nephew Harry Urquhart-Hay (32) have just joined the business becoming the fifth generation to be involved. ‘We process strong wool in Gisborne from 300 plus farmers around the East Coast,” explains Harry. “That’s the coarser, thicker variety of wool which makes up around 90% of New Zealand’s wool production with the other 10% being merino, typically from the South Island.” In the 1980’s synthetics were on the rise and started encroaching on strong wool’s traditional textile markets of carpets and curtains with the result that strong wool prices have been suffering ever since. “We’ve been listening to our farming clientele for a number of years and it’s costing them more to shear their sheep than the price they get for the wool,” says Harry. “Uncle Henry called a family meeting around the kitchen table a couple of years ago and said if we don’t do something about it we won’t have a family business to continue as part of our legacy in a 100 years’ time. We need to pay our farmers more for their wool or they’ll stop farming it all together.” They recognised that adding value to the wool was the way forward, knew they wanted to do it locally in Gisborne, and decided to explore engineering the wool to make it suitable for new uses. For the last year they’ve been collaborating with the University of Otago’s textile division, with MPI (Ministry of Primary Industries), and with Callaghan Innovation; they’re focusing mainly on just one of wool’s many attributes, its compressional resilience, otherwise known as its “bounce-back”, and how it can be applied in soft fillings for furnishings such as mattresses, cushions, pillows and so on. “Effectively replacing synthetics for upholstered goods, and really focusing on high-end goods, where a wonderful natural wool can replace imported synthetics,” says Harry. Harry believes their timing to be part of a wool renaissance is perfect given the increasing demand world-wide for natural, sustainable materials (sheep need to be shorn), and is proud to be continuing the legacy left by his great, great grandfather. “We still collect direct from the farmers with no middleman,” says Harry. “Then it’s scoured (washed and cleaned) down the road in Hawkes Bay, and when it comes back to us we engineer it in a particular way to make it the perfect replacement for these synthetics such as foam, polyester and imported feather.” Integral to the development of this new product which lies at the heart of the new “Wisewool” division of the Gisborne Wool Company is the Trust Tairawhiti. Their grant to assist Wisewool to get their story out to a wider audience certainly helped, but it’s the connection through them to the wider community that is truly invaluable. “The Trust has been amazing for us,” says Harry. “For making connections within the community and with industry leaders who are interested in supporting us to grow our presence in Gisborne, and in our bigger, long-term aspiration which is to build a big experience and innovation engineering and manufacturing hub in the region.” With their knowledge, co-operation and commitment to both community and the region Wisewool hope to continue what W.H. Smith began in 1894 with the sort of wool product innovation that will carry the Gisborne Wool Company through several more generations. “Effectively replacing synthetics for upholstered goods, and really focusing on high-end goods, where a wonderful natural wool can replace imported synthetics.”
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