MARK – stands for Made And Realised in Kernow (‘Cornwall’ in the Cornish language)
MARK Product was first established in 2008 and is led by designers and founders, Anna Hart and John Miller.
Having met in 2007, Anna and John had been brought together through their shared aspirations for designing and making furniture that would not only enhance the experience of the place where people work but also deliver a difference to the lives of the community and environment where that product was made.
The ideas and values that Anna and John exchanged in their first meeting remain what drives the company today.
“Producing furniture that we can confidently stand by in regards to the ethics and values of its production and lifecycle are a driving force for us.” Co-founder, Anna Hart
MARK Product launched to great acclaim at 100% Design, London in 2008 with furniture from leading UK designers Tomoko Azumi, Dylan Freeth, Sam Johnson, Sarah Kay, Andrea Stemmer and Gala Wright remaining core to the collection today.
Having set out to manufacture our products in Cornwall, utilising the array of skills in our local community (consciously following the Northern Italy model which supports a great furniture sector), our investment in local talent and relationships has developed into an established and trusted network of factories.
It is with shared values that we produce our range of sustainable furniture today – our products are made to last and avoid the use of toxic or unsustainable materials.
“It is as important for us to know who makes our products, as it is for us to be fair to the planet in the way we choose our materials and our manufacturing processes.” Co-founder, John Miller
In the past decade, our projects have grown in scale and ambition across media, education, technology and hospitality sectors. Our suppliers have grown with us, creating many new jobs in Cornwall and beyond. And with this, our ambition has grown.
Inspired by the climate strikes of 2019 and recognising the urgency of action on global heating, we renewed our mission to do better for the environment and because of this our Do Net Good strategy was born.
We recognise that there’s always room for improvement and consider it incredibly important that we’re open and honest about what we do well and what we can improve on.
Putting ourselves under the scrutiny of sustainability experts Element 4, we asked them to review what we thought were the good things that we do and critically, at the same time, identify where we need to do better.
The global pandemic has shown us that when we have to, we can do things differently – and fast. It is MARK’s ambition to lead this change in our industry for the decade ahead. Do Net Good is our sustainability strategy to build a better business year on year.