Specsavers

Specsavers Optical Group Ltd.

File:Specsavers logo-1-.png
Company type	Private
Founded	1984
Founder	Doug and Dame Mary Perkins DBE
Headquarters	St Andrew's, Guernsey
Key people	Doug Perkins (Chairman)
Revenue	£1.02 billion (2008/9)
Number of employees	> 26,100

Specsavers is the biggest optical retailer in the UK. It is also the biggest of the four major opticians that control 70% of the British market for spectacles and contact lenses, with Specsavers having a 39% share of the market. The company has over 1,390 stores in the United Kingdom, Spain, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand.

History and Market Position

Specsavers are a high street opticians, selling spectacles, contact lenses and hearing aids. The group was launched in 1984 by husband and wife team Doug Perkins and Mary Perkins and at the end of 2007 the group had over 1,390 stores with 26,000 employees. As well as stores in the UK, they are present in the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Spain and most recently Australia and New Zealand. The company has ventured into hearing services in 2002. Their Hearing Centres division provides hearing tests and hearing aids within the Specsavers optical stores and has grown to become the UK's leading provider of digital hearing aids providing services from more than 400 locations.

Specsavers also sell designer optical collections by Jasper Conran, French Connection and Red or Dead.

Specsavers has a market share of over 39% of all transactions within the opticians' market in the UK and Republic of Ireland, larger than any of its competitors. Its main competitors in the UK are Dollond & Aitchison (D&A), Boots Opticians and Vision Express; see UK Opticians (retailers).

The co-founder of Specsavers, Mary Perkins, was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours List in 2007 in recognition of her services to business and the community in Guernsey.

In 2007 Finance Director John Perkins became Joint Managing Director with his father Doug Perkins.

Advertisements

In 2002 Specsavers spent over £20m on advertising, with television taking 62% of spending. Specsavers supported each of their stores through the use of local media, with local print press taking 16% of spending and local radio 7%.

In 2005 Specsavers won the Retail Week 2005 award for Marketing Campaign of the Year.

In 2006 Specsavers was ranked 46 of the UK's 100 heaviest spenders on TV advertising, spending £27 million. Readers Digest magazine voted Specsavers the most trusted brand of opticians for the 5th year running. The magazine surveyed people in 40 European countries.

In 2009, the retailer was voted most trusted optician for the 8th year running by Reader's Digest.

Specsavers long-running and successful advertising campaign is famously based on the strapline "Should've gone to Specsavers" which appears on the company's TV advertising. Conceived by Specsavers Creative Director Graham Daldry, the line has become part of popular culture and is frequently quoted.

Specsavers' use of Édith Piaf in advertisements has caused some adverse comment in the press in spite of the fact that full permission had been granted by the estate of the performer. A Facebook group has been set up to oppose this supposed abuse of the famous French singer.

Specsavers' use of Thunderbirds in that advert Virgil Tracy was chased from Thunderbird 2 by the villan known as The Hood Through the tunnel as Virgil emerges from tunnel to sunlight his glasses magically darken and steers round a mountain and when The Hood emerges into the sunlight he gets blinded and dazzled by the sunlight and crashes into a mountain.

Specsavers' use of Postman Pat in that advert Pat Clifton accidentally broke his glasses and has not got a spare pair (The Logo From Royal Mail on Pat's van like on the opening episodes from 1981 was from 1967 till 1974 and The number plate on his van had MAIL 1) then Pat took a sack of vegetables by mistake due to Post Office Ltd. and The Groceries nextdoor to each other and vegetables were posted through the Reverend's door.

Controversy

Specsavers attracted some controversy after condemning Glasses Direct, a UK Internet retailer claiming that an internet service "did not meet required standards" and "could not offer advice from dispensing opticians".

In 2006 James Murray Wells the Managing Director of Glasses Direct made claims that four major high street retailers including Specsavers were "leading a campaign to stop prescription glasses being sold over the internet".

Also in 2006 Wells sought election to the General Optical Council, arguing that internet retailers and their customers needed representation. In response the Managing Director of Specsavers, Doug Perkins, wrote to Specsavers branches asking the company's opticians to rally round one of their own candidates "..candidates with the interests of hands-on, professional practitioners at heart". The General Optical Council had previously stated that it believed internet sales of glasses could pose a risk to "public safety" and its priority was maintaining high standards of eye care for the public, and not members' commercial interests. Murray Wells withdrew from the election after it became clear he would not win a ballot.

In June 2008, Specsavers made up glasses to a hospital prescription.  After the young girl got her glasses she suffered from headaches and nausea. A routine eye inspection at Milton Keynes Hospital, uncovered that Specsavers had fitted the right lens on the left side and right lens on the left side.

Charity work

Specsavers supports numerous optical and hearing charities, including Guide Dogs and Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. During their three year support for Diabetes UK they raised more than £250,000 to fund research into diabetic retinopathy. International charities supported include Fight for Sight and Vision Aid Overseas, with whom Specsavers is looking to fund an eyecare clinic and teaching facility in Zambia. Specsavers stores across Britain raised more than £300,000 in 2009 to support the project and an additional £300,000 is planned.

Structure

Specsavers operates most of their stores under a system which is called the 'Joint or Shared Venture Partnership'. This is similar to a franchise agreement between Specsavers and the franchisee; however, unlike many franchises, Specsavers stores work under the policy that 'any Specsavers customer is our customer', thereby meaning that a customer from one branch of Specsavers can expect to get equal service from another branch elsewhere. It also differs in that Specsavers own shares in the franchisee business rather than just providing goods and services under a franchise agreement. In newer territories such as Sweden, Norway and Spain, they operate a normal franchise agreement.

Relationship with Guernsey

The headquarters are based in Guernsey where the founding partners were resident when the company was formed.

Specsavers is the largest private employer on the island of Guernsey, providing 500 jobs. Guernsey is a crown dependency of the UK and has substantially different company reporting standards to the mainland, greatly reducing information available on Specsavers operations and profitability..

Business Strategy And Future

The Perkins have stated that they intend to maintain family control of the firm, which currently employs all three of their children in senior roles. Continued expansion into Europe is planned with the immediate aim of being the market dominating opticians in the Netherlands and Scandinavia. It is also intended that the company will become a leading supplier of hearing aids. The Perkins attribute their success to their franchise model (see "Structure" in this article) and the opportunities created by de-regulation of the UK Opticians market by the Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, allowing opticians to use previously forbidden advertising and marketing techniques to rapidly take over a market that had belonged to independent local opticians. The Perkins have stated regarding the remaining local opticians that "their days are numbered", and in fact their major competition now comes from large chains such as Boots The Chemist and Vision Express.

External links

• Specsavers UK
• Specsavers Ireland
• Specsavers Hearcare UK