Sarah Turner, the founder of the woollen laundry ball brand Little Beau Sheep, is (quite understandably) a big advocate for British wool. Of course, you would expect little else from an Innovation in Wool Award-winning, certified Woolman whose business has been built (in just a short number of years) on the virtues of wool.
What started as a part-time earner born out of her family’s top-floor flat in Yorkshire as Sarah searched for a (quieter and more eco-friendly) alternative to plastic laundry balls has, by her own admission “got out of hand.” Today, Sarah rubs shoulders with the likes of Theo Paphitis, launches branded collections licensed with Aardman’s Shaun the Sheep, and delivers TED X talks on the ‘wonder material that is wool.’
In a small amount of time, Little Beau Sheep has become more than a laundry product but an ethos and a lifestyle with its own community of followers and fans opting to use locally sourced, natural materials rather than plastics and synthetics. Unlike your average rags to riches story, however, there’s much to Little Beau Sheep’s earliest success that can be attributed to the BBC presenter, Anita Rani.
“Little Beau Sheep appeared on Countryfile quite early on in the business and things sort of snowballed from there,” recalls Sarah. “Via the show, we were spotted by the Worshipful Company of Woolmen and entered into the Innovation in Wool Award, which we won… and that’s where things started to take off.”
It was at one of the Autumn Fairs that Little Beau Sheep drew the attention of both the business tycoon Theo Paphitis and the Aardman team and earlier this year, the company found its collection of Shaun the Sheep licensed woollen laundry balls shortlisted for this year’s Licensing Awards Best Sustainable Licensed Product award.
Among the sustainability virtues of Sarah’s product are not just the benefits of laundry balls in terms of energy use when tumble drying your washing but equally the brand’s dependence solely upon local, British wool, much of which was sourced (particularly in the early days) from the sheep farm just up the road from the Little Beau Sheep headquarters.
“First and foremost, laundry balls whizz around in the tumble dryer with your washing, creating an airflow that draws out moisture and helps your clothes dry quicker,” explains Sarah. “This means it can help you cut down on your tumble dryer usage. And, by adding scents from essential oils, means you can cut down on purchasing all those bottled softeners.
“Secondly, wool just seems the really obvious solution to a lot of the world’s plastic problems, in terms of single use plastics as well as, probably the biggest thing, microplastics from the shedding of synthetic fibres in the wash,” says Sarah.
“Using a natural fibre is going to be a lot more sustainable and you’re supporting the farming industry.”
This is a point most poignant for Sarah who, since launching her business and finding herself becoming a part of the British wool community – albeit by accident – has become somewhat a spokesperson for the revival or renaissance of the British wool trade. It has, for the past many decades, been an industry on its knees.
The British wool trade is centuries old. London was a city quite literally built on wool, when it would be sent off to France and Italy for tailoring,” explains Sarah. “But thanks to global economies, British wool farmers are just not getting the prices they need for their wools. This means farmers aren’t buying their lambs for the wool content because it’s become essentially worthless. It’s seen British wool almost become a waste product. So, I really want to try and do something out there to help revive that trade.”
Sarah is under no illusion that Little Beau Sheep can turn the misfortunes of the British wool industry around by itself. Its quantities are too small, for a start. But, by becoming a vocal advocate and ambassador for British wool, Sarah can use her position to influence the business of others. This was the message behind her recently held Ted X talk in Northwich and the fact behind the claim she jokingly lays to influencing Aardman’s latest move to position Shaun the Sheep as the official ambassador for British Wool.
“I really do hope we could be on the verge of a comeback for British wool,” says Sarah. “The more we talk about it, the more people realise the versatility of wool as well as the environmental benefits of choosing wool over synthetic materials. Plus, it can be applied to so many types of clothing like active wear, underwear… lots of things you wouldn’t think of it being used for today.
“Plus, the more we buy British wool for production, the shorter the distances our products have to travel to get to the customer. There’s going to be a huge benefit in that when it comes to the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.”
All Little Beau Sheep’s products are manufactured in Yorkshire from wool sourced from within the UK. The Shaun the Sheep collection will be on display at the Products of Change stand (A265) at Brand Licensing Europe next week.
