Canterbury’s Wild Earth Yarns keeps craft wool processing in NZ

Wild Earth Yarns owners Graham (left) and Jacqui McLaughlin, and son Blair, who is the factory manager.

By Penny Miles of RNZ

The country’s last operational woollen dye house and spinning mill has been saved from the scrap heap.

Canterbury’s Wild Earth Yarns is taking over manufacturing equipment belonging to Napier company Design Spun, which is closing.

The Christchurch-based and family-owned company is the manufacturer of high-quality hand-knitting yarn from super-fine merino wool, possum fibre and strong wool.

“What that means for us is massive expansion,” Wild Earth Yarns factory manager Blair McLaughlin said.

Yarn from its factory in the Christchurch suburb of Bromley is used in textiles, knitting and merino socks.

The newly purchased machinery can also manufacture mohair and alpaca fibre.

And a woollen bouclé yarn can now be made for the weaving market.

McLaughlin said if they had not bought the heavy machinery, it would have been scrapped.

“We’ll be the last worsted yarn manufacturer left in New Zealand.”

Most of the country’s wool clip is sent overseas as greasy and clean fibre to be processed, but Wild Earth Yarns was committed to local manufacturing.

“Obviously, there’s a rising demand for local traceable yarn,” McLaughlin said.

“We can see a worldwide trend of moving away from synthetic materials and wanting to use natural biodegradable fibres.”

It will add up to 15 more staff as it scales up its operation.

He said the company was thrilled to carry on Design Spun’s legacy.

Moving the machinery to the South Island would be a significant logistical operation.

McLaughlin, alongside his father Graham, had been in Hawke’s Bay planning the big move.

Graham had the engineering skills to keep the machinery operational.

“We’ll start dismantling and preparing to ship to Christchurch at the start of next month,” McLaughlin said.

“There will be a lot of moving parts over the operation to get it up and running again.”

Meanwhile, the owners of Design Spun’s dye plant and spinning mill in Napier were disappointed they could not find a local buyer to take over the operation, based at Onekawa.

Managing director Brendan Jackson said it was bittersweet that no one in the region was lining up to take over the firm.

Around 25 workers would lose their jobs when the production moves south.

Around 60% of the business was in the hand-knitting sector, with the balance going into weaving and hosiery contracts.

“Design Spun, as a textile company, has a long commitment and support for the natural fibre industry, and our preference was to sell the business and keep production here on site here in Napier,” Jackson said.

“It’s been an 18-month process for us. We’ve got retiring and exiting executive directors.

“The dye house and spinning mill are all moving to Christchurch; they have bought all the equipment.”

But a silver lining was Wild Earth Yarns swooping in to use the machinery in the south.

“We’ve got the next best thing, which is maintaining the capability of processing, but on another site.”

- RNZ