Our mill specialises in adding value to fleece supplied by farmers and turning it into high-quality knitting or weaving yarns which they can sell for themselves to generate a new or growing source of income from their flocks..
The Natural Fibre Company has been spinning yarns since 1991, and the services we offer have increased dramatically since 2005 when managing director Sue Blacker and her family bought the company from its previous owners.
Moving the company from Lampeter in Wales to our new home in Cornwall signalled the start of a minor revolution: our first addition was automated scouring and increased capacity. In 2007 we introduced worsted spinning, and in the summer of 2008 added the on-line shop and a dye plant. Since then we have continued to invest in increased productivity and quality.
As well as our own recipe list or matching colours supplied by customers, the dye plant also produces the palettes for own ranges of Blacker Yarns, carefully creating shades designed to tone with the natural fibre colours. Our knitting and crochet patterns aim to echo this philosophy.
Although the business has been mainly funded by family and private investor support, along with some bank finance we have also benefitted from support from BWMB, DEFRA, ESF, European Union Objective 1, RDPE, SFI, SWMAS and UKTI.
You may need our help and expertise in order to realise your ambitions, but we always try to ensure you get the best possible products and services. We learn something from every customer and we will keep learning to produce the best we can; you may download our
We believe in buying and making local, and are convinced there is an international future for high-quality UK-manufactured goods:
When good design is used, natural fibres can be turned into classic, elegant and hard-wearing products that reward those who value and care for them;
We believe it is wrong to use oil-based or high energy input fibres when wool and other natural fibres are sustainable, high-performance raw materials providing warmth, insulation and comfort. For the sake of the people living on the planet in future, we believe in doing as little damage as possible:
Our staff do all they reasonably can to reduce the company's impact on the environment. We recycle most of the waste we produce and keep the remainder to a minimum.
Enquires about what we do are welcomed; we are not advocates of call centres or telephone button pressing, so you should quickly find a person to talk to. If English is not your first language please try French or German.
We enjoy meeting our customers at the shows we attend. Some of them want to see the mill: although we are too busy to run regular tours, if you are interested in bringing a small group, or attending an Open Day, please let us know and we will advise you of the available dates.
We are still thinking about
The Natural Fibre Company is a specialist, vertically integrated mill and the only company we know of which spins both woollen and worsted yarns under the same roof. We have a dye plant and are licensed for organic production by the Soil Association.
The Natural Fibre Company
to Lampeter in mid Wales in 1991, continuing the business she bought from Rose Elworthy who launched it in the mid-1980s as the Amy Rose Collection in Merthyr Tydfil, south Wales. At Lampeter, the mill spun wool on a small scale, largely for smallholders. With her husband Philip, Myra carried on producing natural and un-dyed wool spun in the traditional way.
When the Mortlocks decided to retire in 2004, they agreed that one of their customers, Gotland sheep breeder Sue Blacker, should take the business over. Cornish-born Sue, a one-time stockbroker, but more recently involved with economic development in the South West and environmental regeneration charities, approached customers past and present with a research survey to determine exactly what they wanted.
Working on the results, she put together a business plan which was approved for European Union Objective 1 funding in the spring of 2005. The company was taken over from the Mortlocks on 14 November and relocated in a 10,000 sq ft factory at Launceston in Cornwall close to the Devon border, where we have since added another nearly 5,000 sq ft with a mezzanine floor.
Scouring and blending began right away, while the first organic production run was in January 2006. Mohair and alpaca started going through the mill in May 2006; worsted and semi worsted spinning were added in July 2007. In 2008 the company installed a dye plant and launched the on-line shop which trades as Blacker Yarns.
Long gone are the days when knitting was something you saw old people doing in cars, trains and buses - everyone does it now! Knitting today is a pastime, hobby or a way to make beautiful, unique things that has exploded across the generations.
