Mark Joll, Owner/Co-Founder at Sponge Cakes and Osprey Foods
What other job would you like to try?
If I had been better at science at school, I think I would have become a vet. It’s one of those jobs I still slightly hanker after.
What is your favourite type of baked good?
A baked vanilla cheesecake with a really crunchy base.
Who did you admire growing up and why?
I played a lot of sport at school, with rugby being one of the main ones. I remember watching England play and always admiring the spirit of the game. Rugby players could spend 80 minutes battling it out, knocking each other around, then at the final whistle shake hands and go for a beer together. I always liked that mix of competitiveness, respect and camaraderie.
How would you define success?
At Sponge, we have a very simple measure of whether we have done our job well: has our cake helped create a smile in the moment?
For every order we fulfil, we ask ourselves one simple question: did our cake make someone smile when it mattered most? It sounds straightforward, but it is actually a powerful lens. It keeps us focused on the people behind every order, not just the order itself.
What three words would your family use to describe you?
Outnumbered: with a wife, two daughters, a female dog and a female cat, I am very much in the minority.
Restless: I always like to be doing, thinking, planning or starting something.
Outdoorsy: I am happiest when I am outside, in the fresh air with something practical to get stuck into.
What is one thing you hope to achieve this year?
Completing a rebrand is a rare opportunity. It gives you the chance to look clearly at who you are, who your customers are, and what you really want to say to them. For Sponge, the rebrand has created exactly that clarity.
Alongside a fresh innovation plan, the business is now better positioned than it has ever been. The challenge is how we grow without losing the things that made Sponge worth growing in the first place.
That means investing in what our customers already love, expanding thoughtfully into new occasions and audiences, and building trade partnerships that feel genuinely complementary rather than simply additive. It also means being honest about pace and choosing the right kind of growth over the fastest kind.
We are not trying to be everywhere. We want to be the first name people think of when a cake really matters.
On a more personal note, my youngest daughter and I have planted a vegetable patch together for the first time. We will both be very chuffed if we manage to get a few things to grow.
