Specsavers story

When they first developed their business on a table-tennis table in a spare room of the family home, optometrists Doug and Mary Perkins had a simple plan: to offer a wide range of stylish, fashionable glasses at prices everyone could afford, with no compromise on the standards of eyecare.

That was 1984. Some 23 years later, the Perkins' family company, Specsavers, is the third largest supplier of eye care in the world with an annual turnover of more than NZD$2.52 billion in 2006, up from NZD$2.04 billion in 2005.

The couple, who met while studying optometry at Cardiff University in Wales, moved their family to Guernsey, in Britain's Channel Islands, after selling a small chain of West Country opticians. In the early 1980s, when the British Government deregulated the professions, including optometry, allowing them to advertise their products and services for the first time, they spotted an opportunity to modernise the industry and offer customers some choice.

They aimed to establish a company that was recognised as being as trustworthy as a local, independent optometrist, but with the huge buying power of a national company.

"People now don't remember what it was like," Mary Perkins remembers of the period before deregulation. "Optometrists didn't have showrooms. Before Specsavers, you weren't even allowed to put a sticker in the window saying you accepted credit cards. We did take an awful lot of stick and the rest of the profession was very much against what we were doing."

The couple opened the first Specsavers practices in Guernsey and Bristol in 1984, followed shortly by practices in Plymouth, Swansea and Bath.

The success was staggering.

By July 1988, Specsavers was supporting 100 practices. In 1993 it supported 200, 300 in 1995, 400 in 2000, 500 in 2003 and has grown by 100 practices a year since. Specsavers is market leader in the UK and Ireland, with over 30% market share. The first Netherlands practice opened in 1997, the first Swedish in 2004, the first in Denmark and Norway in 2005 while the first practice opened in Spain in 2006.

In building Specsavers, Doug and Mary Perkins have always championed local ownership among optometrists within practices. Contrary to popular belief, Specsavers itself only owns three practices outright, the remainder of more than 800 practices all being locally owned led joint venture partnerships or independent franchise structures.

Specsavers now offers more than 2000 styles and colours made from the latest high-tech materials, including titanium and stainless steel. New styles are introduced regularly to keep apace with changes in fashion and technology. And for the past five years, Specsavers has been voted Britain's ‘most-trusted' brand of optometrists by thousands of readers surveyed by Reader's Digest, realising another dream for the Perkins.

"Consumers are not stupid," Mary says of the phenomenal success. "They have got brains and people forget that it's their eyes and their money. For the customer, it has given them affordability, choice and a professional service."

From just two people with a dream, Specsavers now employs 16,000 people and supports 809 practices around the globe.

Optometrists in New Zealand will gain access to one of the most advanced retail optics supply chains in the world which in 2006 supplied 8 million frames and 16 million Specsavers and Pentax branded lenses at the lowest possible cost to its practices.

Doug and Mary's goal in New Zealand is to enable local optometrists to combine their outstanding excellence and expertise in the consulting room, with the power of Specsavers supply chain and support services.