Mark High

Mark High joined Ecoglass in April 2024 as National Sales Manager and progressed to Company Director in November 2024. 

A natural progression of the trajectory Mark had carved for his career; in taking the role of Company Director, he brings 34 years of commercial intuition and insight to the continued growth of Ecoglass. In his role, strategy, vision and operational excellence are supported by the collaborative, people-first company values which are the foundational core of Ecoglass.  

In our latest Meet the Team interview, Mark reflected on his achievements and ambitions in the company. 

Interviewer: Let’s start with your day-to-day. How would you describe a typical week at Ecoglass? 

Mark: Broadly speaking, my day starts at 7 am with Simon Gilchrist, our Dispatch and Transport Manager, followed by time with the Operations team – Mat Collins and James Bishop. This gives me a clear, daily operational overview of where we are with both orders and deliveries. 

By 8.30-9.00 I’m catching up with Ian Snow and Craig Hopper, for a daily commercial and technical overview to ensure we’re meeting customer standards and expectations, and this is enhanced by my mid-morning conversations with Anna Mendham for a customer service review.  

These daily briefings create an opportunity for me to immediately sense-check and act on any challenges. I become a single source of information flow between all the teams and ensure that everyone is transparently aware of the daily operational and customer requirements.  

My time throughout the week is then split between commercial customer conversations and internal stakeholder management. I endeavour to be out meeting with clients face-to-face, at least twice a week. And the strategic conversations I'm having directly with customers on acquisition, business growth and market developments are translated internally with the level of support our customers trust and rely on from Ecoglass.  

The conversations we have with our customers about the challenges they face, the opportunities in the market and the strengths of their personal business must be matched by Ecoglass as a proactive delivery partner.  

We pride ourselves on always going the extra mile for our customers, and that reality happens when someone consistently threads the multiple conversations with action.  

Interviewer: Can you provide some examples of this in action? 

Mark: Take the Customer Charter. It provides an internal benchmark of how we will always act in service of the customer. But that internal promise is meaningless if the team and I do not work by the Charter’s blueprint and act with the integrity and honesty we promise.  

A few years ago, a customer told Craig and me that the next business growth opportunity is in the heritage market. They required slim-profile insulated glass units, which, at that time, we did not manufacture. So, we went away, assessed the viability of making those units and after extensive research and development and internal testing, went back to the customer with the launch of EcoSlim.  

Sometimes a commercial conversation and follow-through is, ‘How can we be more sustainable in our delivery schedule and glass recycling?’ And sometimes it’s ‘How can we improve our technical knowledge?’ Every customer has different needs, and the team at Ecoglass are brilliant at finding solutions, being proactive and looking at every challenge as an opportunity to do better.  

Interviewer: These are great examples of how customers’ needs really are at the heart of operations. 

Mark: I believe every transactional relationship is first a partnership. My role is to shape clear value propositions for customers and ensure the delivery happens as smoothly as possible.  

For example, we spotted a gap: a lack of clear and concise technical training in our industry, and Ian Snow developed the Technical Training Academy. Our customers wanted transparent communication and accountability, and so we began issuing KPI reports. This year we’ve gone to market with 2 rounds of questionnaires to understand how we can serve our customers better. These aren’t vanity projects; it’s our customers telling us directly how we can do better, and us acting on that insight.  

We want to be known as a supply chain partner that is easy to deal with, provides absolute security of supply and for customers to know that when they work with us, we’ll always do what we say we will, and I'm proud of the actions we’ve taken to date to demonstrate this.  

Interviewer: When speaking with you, I can see that the values of Gaby and Roger are in the bloodline of the business. Preserving them has clearly been important as you shape a new era of Ecoglass. 

Mark: That's a great way to put it. Legacy is important to Gaby and Roger, and whether that’s being one of the early adopters of sustainability, always operating with people-first values and going the extra mile for our people as much as for customers. Their ethics underpin the emotional core of the business.  

Interviewer: And this has been demonstrated in the social impact work you do. 

Mark: Yes, the positive ripples of giving back locally to our people and community are just as important to me as working in service of our customers.  

Whether it’s supporting local customers with glass recycling and sustainability, our work with Rippleacts, or internal mentorship programmes, these are just the beginning. I'm actively looking at ways to expand more of our social impact and development as we continue to grow. 

Interviewer: To round off the interviews, I always like to ask about TV/Film recommendations and holiday hotspots. What would you suggest? 

Mark: For pure nostalgia, Jurassic Park has a special place in my memories. I remember going to watch the film in the cinema and experiencing the communal awe of these huge dinosaurs on screen and at the time, there was even press covering the event as it was such a huge, collective cultural conversation. 

Later down the years, my son was quite obsessed with Dinosaurs, so experiencing the films again through his eyes and taking family holidays to Florida, going to the studios and theme parks, has been a special presiding memory. And it’s been a great way to keep a part of my youth alive through my children.  

More recently, I visited Rome, which was a bucket-list destination for me. It’s an amazing city, and the residue of history is still, paradoxically, very alive in the architecture, stories and culture. Being able to enjoy the city with my wife and daughter was a brilliant experience, and it’s a place I'd wholeheartedly recommend to anyone thinking of visiting.  

And when it comes to films and TV, I'd always suggest the classics – the first season of True Detective, Breaking Bad and The Office, both US and UK versions have been great staples of TV.  

Interviewer: And if I could take one film out of your memory so that you could watch it afresh, which would it be? 

Mark: The Shawshank Redemption. The themes of brotherhood, redemption, and the enduring power of hope are great lessons of life wrapped up in a brilliant film with standout performances.  

Interviewer: Couldn’t agree more! That’s a perfect place to wrap up our interview. Thanks for your time today, Mark. 

To read more of our Meet the Team interviews, click here.