Mentorship Scheme
Made with Wool ran a pilot mentorship scheme for 18 months to understand and evaluate the benefits of offering this service within the industry. The mentorship program will provided guidance and support for individuals who were starting a business, expanding their existing business or are experiencing barriers and difficulties within the industry. The goal was to work together to identify goals and opportunities, provide solutions and establish new ways of working.
The opportunity to receive free mentoring through the Made with Wool project has now come to and end. Please do get in touch with us at gwlan@mentermon.com if you are interested in starting a business using wool or are experiencing barriers within the industry as we would still be able help through offering advice and connecting you with someone that could help you further. Below you will see the mentors that provided the mentoring service for Made with Wool.
Applications for mentoring has now closed
mentors
Anna Felton
Anna is a branding consultant for brand Corgi Socks and has worked with several UK brands such as Charlie Brear, Hiut Denim, Howies and the Do Lectures. Known for her passion of sustainable and ethical fashion, and a keen interest in UK manufacturing and wool. Inspired by her life on a farm Anna founded Monkstone Knitwear in 2010 and The Welsh Wool Company in 2021. As a lecturer in Higher Education Felton’s research focuses on the use of technology v’s texture and the development of interactive learning for students, linking trends and industry to create a creative skill share environment. This research has also supported the work she is doing with Welsh farmers and the Welsh wool industry.
LLIO ANGHARAD OWEN
Llio Angharad is the owner of design house ‘Hen Betha Newydd’ that designs and creates clothing and accessories from pre-existing goods. With over 10 years’ experience in the fashion industry, she is passionate in encouraging the practice of re-using and re-purposing and is an advocate for slow fashion. Hand in hand with her business, she is an online content creator with extensive experience in digital marketing to promote businesses with an interest in promoting small independent Welsh businesses.
EIFION GRIFFITHS
Eifion and Amanda, the current owners, have been running Melin Tregwynt, a working woolen mill, since 1986. It has been owned by the same family since 1912. The skills and knowledge of all the staff, both past and present, keep the tradition of Welsh weaving alive at Melin Tregwynt. They are currently in the process of transferring the running of the business to the staff, an employee-owned trust will manage the mill. Eifion is an experienced business owner with a demonstrated history of working in the textiles industry. Skilled in Photography, Graphics, Design, Retail, and Design Management. Strong entrepreneurship professional with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) focused in Architecture from Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff. Now a Public Value Entrepreneur in Residence at Cardiff Business School. Eifion and Amanda Griffiths are the third generation of this family owned business and have used their love of design and colour to reinvigorate traditional Welsh textiles, for a contemporary market.
JACQUI PEARCE
Jacqui is a Creative Director & Consultant with a strong educational and professional background in Fashion and Textiles. She is a qualified Textile Technologist and award winning Designer & Author having written 6 books and contributed to a further 2 business best sellers.
She has a depth of experience from Corporate Board Level in Fashion Retail to founding awarding winning SMEs both on and offline, including winning the prestigious Natwest Women in Business award and Top Drawer Best Product. Her British Wool Craft brand has been at the forefront of the craft movement for over 15 years.
She has worked globally with different scales and types of production and holds her own IP including 3 in the Eco Sector. As a Brand and Product Consultant in multiple sectors, her decades of experience cover a broad spectrum of knowledge across the creative & textile industries in the Fashion, Craft and Lifestyle Markets. She is passionate about sustainable design and the paradigm for change that the Wool Industry can offer to the textile sector and is currently undertaking qualitative design research in this area.
NICK BRADLEY
A graduate of University of Wales (Bangor), Nick has a very varied CV and experience in several different sectors and has founded several successful businesses. He founded Anglesey Consultants, who provide management consultancy and mentoring to businesses across Wales. The company provides support to owner–managers, enabling them to expand their businesses by developing and implementing business plans and by raising funding for expansion. He has further mentoring experience in being an Independent Consultant for the Wales Government under the UK DTI Mentoring Programme, he is also Mentor for the Princes Trust and a mentor for Prime Cymru.
JENNIFER HUNTER
Jennifer is a pioneering farmer’s daughter with a genuine respect for rural sciences and over 10 years of experience adding value to wool. She has visited 10 countries as part of her Nuffield Scholarship studying wool, specifically sheep genetics, wool harvesting and processing, adding value at shearing and innovation. Jennifer established the ‘WOW campaign’ – “Wonder of Wool” – to highlight the many uses of wool. Jen regularly employs shearers from Wales and has an insight to the micro-economic factors at play in Gwynedd. Along with her husband Andrew Wear, they have grown the family business in Compton Market near Bristol as the ‘Fernhill Farm Experience’, offering 15000+ visitors a year the opportunity to visit and stay on the multi-purpose livestock farm focusing on ‘regenerative agricultural’ practices. “Wool has been my passion and concern since 2009 when the devaluation of natural fibres and promotion of synthetics left behind an excellent base material suitable for many industries. As a 2014 Nuffield Farming Scholar I researched global wool industry trends and we strive to reposition wool in society as a primary product rather than by product from the sheep meat industry.’
GILLIAN WILLIAMS
NERYS LLEWELYN JONES
Nerys is the founder of a niche professional services firm, Agri Advisor, for farmers and landowners. She has first-hand knowledge of the farming industry and understands the issues her rural clients face. Nerys holds doctorate in the implementation and enforcement of law and policy at international and regional levels of governance and is a regular speaker on agricultural policy in the UK and Europe. She has built a reputation for her strategic thinking and ability to manage and motivate transformational change in the businesses and organisations she has worked with. She is knowledgeable about the legal and administrative devolved structure of the UK and is a highly regarded lawyer in her specialist fields of agricultural, environmental and planning law.
English