With the Government standing firmly behind its $2.5 billion insulation program, Mr Aldridge started ramping up his production and taking on more staff in anticipation of a spike in demand.

And for 12 months it did with Higgins wool insulation orders up ten-fold on the previous year.

But on Monday morning, after a sleepless weekend plagued by the Government’s Friday decision to abolish the program, he was forced to call together his 100 staff and deliver the news that 20 per cent were no longer required.

“The abrupt finish of the scheme could mean the ruin of this business as we currently have wool stocks in the million of dollars that we will not be able to get rid of,” Mr Aldridge said from his Brisbane office this week.

“No one in their right mind would consider putting in insulation until they know if the rebates will continue in three months.”

A Victorian Fire report released last week into insulation fires revealed the majority of fires were in houses with blow in or loose fitting insulation that fell onto lights.

Higgins Insulation is the largest wool insulation company in Australia and the sole business of its kind operating on the east coast.

Last year it sourced around 100 tonnes of 24 micron wool from Laycock Specialty Fibres.

The loss of business comes in the wake of reports from Heimtextil, the world’s largest home textile trade fair in Germany, that wool use was on the rise with 21 Woolmark licensees exhibited their products to over 70,000 retail buyers and wholesalers.

“Europe and the United States bedding markets are like the Australian market some 20 years ago, when wool had very little market share, but I now see that changing with education,” Australian bedding manufacturer Jaspa Herington’s managing director Barry Young said in a statement recently.

Mr Herington said wool currently made up around 50 per cent of the Australian bedding market.