British Wool - Publicly Appointed Non-Executive Board Members

British Wool, a farmer-led not-for-profit founded in 1950, aims to drive sustainable demand for British wool and maximize returns for its sheep farmer members. The organisation operates as a cooperative on behalf of around 35,000 sheep farmers. In addition to handling, selling and marketing wool on behalf of its membership British Wool trains 800 to 1000 people annually on sheep shearing and wool handling courses. These courses promote good animal husbandry and welfare whilst also ensuring that its membership can develop skills or access shearing contractors at a reasonable cost.

British Wool’s Head Office is in Bradford and the organisation operates a network of eight grading depots and 100 collection sites across the UK. There are British Wool offices in Japan and China, and British Wool has two subsidiaries which perform commercial activities for third parties, including an IWTO accredited laboratory offering wool testing services. Revenues in the 2023 clip year were £17.3 million and the business has around 150 full-time employees.

British Wool is seeking to identify two new independent Non-Executive Board Members who will be jointly appointed by Ministers in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. These individuals will work with the rest of the Board to guide the long-term strategic direction of the organisation and also act as a valuable source of outside perspective, advice, and challenge to the executive team. 

Profile No. 1 (Likely Start in July 2025)
This individual will be expected to come from a finance background. They will be asked to Chair the Audit Committee.

Essential criteria:

• financial experience, with understanding of corporate finance, audit, reporting, governance, and commercial business;
• proven experience of operating at Board level or equivalent, preferably in either the private or cooperative sector;
• experience of acting strategically to identify commercial opportunities, to assess their implications, and to make sound financial decisions.

The additional following attributes would be highly desirable:

• previous experience of Chairing or sitting on an Audit Committee;
  knowledge of final salary pension schemes;
• knowledge and experience of appraising investment or divestments in businesses or start-ups.

Profile No. 2 (likely Start in October 2025)

This individual will be expected to come from a commercial or sales background.

Essential criteria:

• an ability to provide broad commercial insight, helping the Board to develop and execute strategies and opportunities in its markets, supply chains, and customer base;
• strong communication skills with proven ability to influence and engage a strong and diverse network of people and organisations, and the ability to inspire confidence in stakeholders at all levels.

The additional following attributes would be highly desirable:

• previous experience as a CEO or similar;
• a track record of developing and growing businesses;
  experience or knowledge of launching new products and services;
• textiles-related experience (or experience of similar markets to those British Wool operates in);
• knowledge of overseas markets and export. 

Completed applications should be submitted online at
https://apply-for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk/roles by midday on 28th March 2025.