Countrywide Wool in Polo Flat is celebrating 14 years of local service to local people.

Proprietor David Abraham is proud of the valued clientele he has built up in the 32 years he has been working in the wool industry.

He is also proud of the service Countrywide Wool offers local woolgrowers.

Countrywide covers the whole Monaro with on-property sales a specialty. The company employs a staff of two fulltime and two part-time workers

David said his business offers ‘clean-ups’ for clients, where he or his staff go to a property, weigh the wool and pay for it on the spot.

These private sales have been on the increase over the past year, David said. A

auction wool has declined due to the drought.

To ensure his customers know how valuable they are to Countrywide Wool, David offers a range of merchandise to existing and new customers for cost price.

This includes wool packs, staples, etc.

Countrywide also offers flat-rate brokerage and free, six-week shearing loans, through Landmark, to help growers get their clip off and ready for sale.

As an independent wool buyer, not affiliated with big companies, David is the person who makes the decisions on what he handles.

Countrywide is one of only two local wool stores which does not handle “shedding’ wools, but concentrates on prime quality Merino and crossbred wool.

David said he had noticed in recent years some crossbred wool has become very harsh and full of harsh fibre as a result of crossing crossbreds with shedding breeds.