From rigid acoustic panels to peat-free growing media and a pillow that folds, this year’s Innovation in Wool Awards winners show how wool is finding new purpose in modern manufacturing.
Wool is best known for keeping people warm. The 2026 Innovation in Wool Awards, announced by the Campaign for Wool, recognise three businesses taking the fibre somewhere quite different. Chosen from five finalists, the winners turn wool’s natural properties into products that are technically useful, commercially viable and able to create new demand for wool.
Main Award: Wull Technologies, for LAMDA
Wull Technologies has developed LAMDA, a rigid, self-supporting material made from 100% British sheep wool. Nothing is added to bind it: no plastics, resins, starches or latex. The wool itself forms the structure, a point the judges saw as central to their decision.
Its first commercial application, the LAMDA Hush range of acoustic panels and baffles, is already installed in Manchester’s Sister Building. Packaging and insulation could follow, subject to further testing and accreditation.
LAMDA also gives coarser British wool a route into higher-value markets: each cubic metre of material uses around 140 kg of clean wool. Wull Technologies has also been nominated by Innovate UK for the 2027 Earthshot Prize, in the Build a Waste-Free World category.
Second Award: SilviBio, for PROPA
With peat use in professional horticulture set to be restricted from 2030, growers need alternatives that hold water and support healthy plants. SilviBio’s PROPA growing medium uses wool, which holds moisture within its fibres, is mechanically strong, and biodegrades.
The technology combines mechanical processing with biotechnology to support plant growth and reduce fertiliser needs.
Third Award: Devon Duvets, for its Folding Pillow
Devon Duvets, a family business in Devon, rethought an everyday product. Its Folding Pillow, made from British wool and natural cotton, uses separate wool-filled sections and unfilled hinges, so it folds over on itself for different levels of support.
It is easy to air between uses, and the whole pillow can be washed without removing the wool filling.
Why It Matters for Wool
Established in 2018, these awards recognise commercially viable innovations that create new markets for wool. They are funded by The Woolmen’s Company Charitable Incorporated Organisation, The Company of the Merchants of the Staple of England Charitable Trust and The Lord Barnby Foundation, with administrative and judging support from the Campaign for Wool. Dame Mary Archer led this year’s judging panel.
“This year’s winners demonstrate wool’s remarkable potential when its natural properties meet fresh thinking and a willingness to challenge convention,” said Ian Maclean MBE, Chairman of the Campaign for Wool, in his first year overseeing the awards.
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LAMDA_PHOTOCREDIT @ Mark Waugh