Booming demand for wool has seen a Bradford merchant and processor make one of the biggest ever single payments to the city-based British Wool Marketing Board.

Cottingley-based Curtis Wool Direct has paid £1.25m to the Board, which collects, grades and auctions all the raw wool produced in the UK.

The cheque, signed by firm’s co-directors and brothers Martin and Simon Curtis, is believed to be the largest amount paid for wool bought at a single auction.

Curtis Wool Direct in the biggest buyer and processor of British wool in the world at its Haworth Scouring subsidiary in Birksland Street, Bradford, where 16 new combing machines have been installed, with full production scheduled for the end of May.

Due to wool prices more than doubling over the past year, and rising demand for wool boosted by the Campaign for Wool led by Prince Charles, the British Wool Marketing Board has reduced the frequency of its Bradford auctions, which used to be held monthly, due to a shortage of supply.

Martin Curtis said: “Sheep farmers have had very low returns for their wool for many years and we can now guarantee that prices paid to them by the Board will be substantially higher than for many years.

“British wool is a hugely important part of our business and the Board provides us with the constant flow of good quality graded wool. As the price of wool has climbed, we’ve been paying around £1m at successive Bradford sales, but this was the biggest yet.

“The Board’s new wool handling depot is very close to our processing plants and this significantly reduces costs in order to be ultra efficient and that is why we continue to invest in the industry.”

The Curtis brothers are founder members of the Campaign For Wool, which going global this year with launches in Munich, Paris, Milan, Madrid, Oslo, New York and Japan.