Richard Middleton
As a Company Director with 17 years dedicated to Ecoglass, Richard Middleton has worked across multiple departments in the company. Starting on the sealed unit line and progressing to glass toughening before taking an office-based role, in this interview, Richard shares his love of travel, his celebration of the Thai New Year of Songkran, and his passion for sports.
Q: You’ve certainly had a varied career at Ecoglass!
A: I have. And it’s been a great learning opportunity to work in the different departments and build up that first-hand experience and knowledge.
Q: I hear that you love to travel.
A: Yeah, I spent month travelling around Europe when I was younger which was just a brilliant experience. And later me and a few friends went to Australia, 2 of whom actually stayed behind and still live there today.
Q: Which cities did you visit in your time there?
A: We first went to Melbourne but soon landed in Perth. It’s a great country, and if things had worked out differently, I may have moved over too.
Q: Sunshine and BBQ’s for Christmas – I can understand why!
A: Funnily enough, my wife is from Thailand, and I’ve spent Christmases in Phuket with her and her family, and that’s certainly a warm Christmas, not much of a BBQ menu though!
Q: I can imagine! What is your favourite dish?
A: Thai Green Curry.
Q: And are there any festivals that they celebrate that you’ve been involved with? As a primarily Buddhist country, I can’t imagine they do much for Christmas?
A: You’re right, they don’t. But they have a brilliant New Years celebration of Songkran. It’s celebrated between 13 – 15 April and is basically a brilliant 3-day party with water fights.
Q: That sounds like a lot of fun!
A: It is! And the idea behind the water fights is to cleanse one another of bad things as we enter the new year.
The water is usually freezing though!
Q: And what about sports, any enduring loves?
A: I’m a Manchester United supporter.
Q: I'm sorry to hear that, they didn't have the best season, did they?
A: No, it wasn’t! But I also have a season ticket to watch Norwich, and I love sports like badminton and squash as well.