Norbord supports local weaving company with memorable donation

Inverness-based wood panel manufacturer Norbord has plaid a blinder by assisting in the creation of an innovative weavers’ display.   

The company is supporting Prickly Thistle, a local tartan weaving start-up, by donating locally manufactured wood panelling to assist in the creation of an innovative display housed within a pop-up mill.

The Evanton business currently operates the only tartan-weaving mill in the mainland Highland region of Scotland.  They established the pop-up mill in March 2018 in a rented building within the Industrial Estate.

Prickly Thistle has created an upcycled memory box at its pop-up mill to showcase its tartan designs and unique story to visitors from across the world.

Following a successful Kickstarter campaign which will see it open its own mill off the North coast on Black Isle, Prickly Thistle made its ‘Black Box’ design feature inside a former oil and gas shipping container that had been repurposed for the site.

Everything in the feature is made entirely with natural, locally-sourced, recycled and environmentally-friendly aesthetics, including twenty 9mm boards from Norbord, used to make the displays.

Clare Campbell, founder at Prickly Thistle, said: “Our Black Box values everything that we want to champion as a company. Our style isn’t your classic ‘tartan’ product display, it’s what we call rebel style, not following the norm, and we wanted to showcase this in a way that captures our company image.

“We’ve had people from all around the world visit our design feature and everyone loves it, especially how we’ve made it with recycled and locally-sourced wood.  We are very committed to making a positive contribution against climate change and sharing knowledge around the impact of a disposable culture, the Black Box being a small step for us. I’d like to personally thank the Norbord team so much for helping us.”

David Connacher, Marketing Manager at Norbord, said: “We’re always looking to support local businesses wherever we can, so as soon as we were approached by Clare, we were more than happy to help her start-up company. The design feature looks fantastic and we’re proud to have been able to help Prickly Thistle in a way that hopefully paves the way for even bigger and better things in the future.”