2002 headquarters st agnes cornwall uk key people tom kay products outdoor apparel website www.finisterreuk.com finisterre is an outdoor clothing company based in st agnes cornwall uk . 1 founded by tom kay in 2002 they are recognised as a cold water surfing company . 1 2 3 contents 1 history 2 products 3 projects 3.1 bowmont wool 10 3.2 i spy traceability programme 16 3.3 ambassadors 4 awards 5 references history edit in 2002 tom kay 4 founded finisterre after noticing problems with the ethics and design of many action sports brands . the initial concept for the company was to create a warm technical clothing range for surfers to wear before and after surfing . tom understood the needs from his own experiences as a keen surfer himself he has been surfing all year round in all weather conditions . products edit finisterre produce a range of technical clothing including merino underwear and base layers waterproof and insulated jackets sweatshirts hoodies along with clothing for running and yoga . in all lines of the companies clothing range performance and sustainability are key factors . the products have been well reviewed by a number of sources for both their performance and green credentials . 5 6 7 exclusive fabrics such as c shell used in the anabatic jacket have been developed using recycled polyester and is fully recyclable at the end of the jackets lifespan . recycled polyester is also used to make the fill in the range of insulated jackets as well as fleeces . the range of sweatshirts and t shirts are all produced from organic cotton that is grown in eastern europe and spun in portugal . finisterre produce a range of merino wool layers including long johns underwear vests and short and long sleeve t shirts . the merino wool is sourced from australia with full traceability reports to ensure none of the sheep subjected to the practice of mulesing . 8 9 although this is not organic wool with the traceability programme ensures better welfare for the sheep producing the wool . one of the biggest developments in the finisterre s wool range is the bowmont project . finisterre have also introduced an initiative called i spy which is clear tracability resource for all their products and materials . projects edit bowmont wool 10 edit the bowmont sheep 11 is an extremely rare breed that was bred in the 1980s to create a new high quality fibre by crossing a saxon merino with a shetland . this project was undertaken by the macaulay institute in order to create a breed of sheep intended as a uk rival to the fine wool of the merino sheep in new zealand and australia . in 2006 due to lack of funding the macaulay institute closed their research farm after 25 years just when the sheep were becoming consistent and the breed stabilising . at this time there wasn t a large enough market for the fine wool so many of the sheep got either slaughtered or cross bred creating a less luxurious fibre . finisterre have teamed up with lesley prior at devon fine fibres 12 the only keeper of purebred bowmont sheep to rescue the breed from the brink of extinction create a sustainable market for the wool and aid in the breed s development and keeping them alive . with the help of clever promotional material and viral videos 13 14 the project is getting a lot of attention from the likes of prince charles and savile row 15 with a large interest in the sustainability of producing high quality fine wool in the uk . the bowmont will be the finest wool sheep in europe ; only being challenged by the merino in further afield parts of the world . i spy traceability programme 16 edit the i spy initiative is a tool on finisterre s website that is a clear and concise source of information showing the traceability of the finisterre products . it shows the full cycle of the finisterre products from design through to reaching the customer . within the cycle it enables the viewer to get detailed information about exactly what materials are used and where they are sourced where and how the materials are processed the location of the manufacturing and how the materials and products are transported between each of these steps . ambassadors edit finisterre supports a number of athletes and adventurers in a range of pursuits . known as ambassadors 17 for the brand these people include carlos burle 18 world champion big wave surfer 19 james bowthorpe 20 adventurer broke round the world cycle record in 2009 . 21 22 hanli prinsloo 23 adventurer and record breaking free diver 24 tim nunn 25 adventurer and surf photographer al mackinnon 26 surf photographer finisterre also supported former rugby player josh lewsey on his attempt to climb mount everest . 27 sadly josh did not make it to the summit due to a failure within his oxygen equipment and was forced to descend in a matter of life and death urgency . 28 awards edit during the companies history it has received a range of awards . their awards include the rspca good business award 2010 29 observer ethical business award 2008 30 31 and the surfer s path green wave award 2008 . 32 references edit a b ethical surf clothing company owner . real cool futures . real cool futures . retrieved 10 june 2015 . the only cold water surf company in the world . such & such . such & such . retrieved 10 june 2015 . finisterre cold water surf pioneers . breaks mag . breaks mag . retrieved 10 june 2015 . tom kay case study ethical clothing company owner . www.realcoolfutures.com . retrieved 6 october 2011 . bristol running review . bristol running . retrieved 6 october 2011 . yoga cornwall . yoga cornwall . retrieved 6 october 2011 . bike magic review . www.bikemagic.com . retrieved 6 october 2011 . ethical sportswear . the manifest . retrieved 6 october 2011 . uk s sustainable answer to patagonia . www.theginlady.com . retrieved 6 october 2011 . finisterre bowmont project . finisterre . retrieved 6 october 2011 . bowmont sheep . devon fine fibers . retrieved 6 october 2011 . salter jessica 16 may 2011 . lesley prior the ethical cashmere and wool producer . the telegraph . london . retrieved 6 october 2011 . surfing sheep video . finisterre . surfing sheep article and background . amelias magazine . retrieved 6 october 2011 . bowmont sheep visit saville row . drift magazine . i spy initiative . finisterre . retrieved 6 october 2011 . finisterre ambassadors . finisterre . retrieved 6 october 2011 . carlos burle . carlos burle . retrieved 6 october 2011 . carlos burle big wave world tour champion . big wave world tour . retrieved 6 october 2011 . james bowthorpe . james bowthorpe . bremner charles ; robertson david 19 sep 2009 . james bowthorpe becomes the fastest cyclist to circle the globe . the times . london . retrieved 6 october 2011 . around the world in 174 days british cyclist breaks trans globe bike record . mail online . london . 20 sep 2009 . retrieved 6 october 2011 . hanli prinsloo . retrieved 6 october 2011 . hanli prinsloo breaks another record . the dive site . tim nunn . tim nunn . retrieved 6 october 2011 . al mackinnon . al mackinnon . retrieved 6 october 2011 . rugby star tells how he feared for his life on everest . this is cornwall . 3 june 2010 . retrieved 6 october 2011 . rugby star josh lewsey s mount everest attempt fails . bbc news . 27 may 2010 . retrieved 6 october 2011 . rspca 2010 awards winners finisterre . retrieved 6 october 2011 . siegle lucy 8 june 2008 . observer ethical business awards 2008 . the guardian . london . retrieved 6 october 2011 . surfers path observer ethical awards 2008 article . surfers path . 2008 . retrieved 6 october 2011 . surfers path green waves award 2008 . surfers path . 2008 . retrieved 6 october 2011 . 31 . you tube film about tom kay 2014 . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title finisterre technical apparel & oldid 675776105 categories clothing retailers of the united kingdomcompanies based in cornwall navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 12 august 2015 at 16 37 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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