The Valli Group, winner of the 2013 Optician Award for Business Excellence, consists of six optical practices in West Yorkshire, with four in and around the town of Huddersfield. The group was founded in 2005 when husband and wife Moin and Rachel Valli acquired three practices, having previously worked in the optical industry in a variety of capacities.
‘I qualified as an optometrist in 2000, having done my degree at Aston University,’ says Moin. ‘I moved to Leeds and worked as a locum so I experienced the profession in both multiples and independents.’
It was at this point that he met Rachel, who was working as an optical adviser in a Dollond & Aitchison practice at the time. The pair soon launched their first venture into the world of business by buying and managing an optical recruitment agency.
‘When I was working as a locum I realised what the agencies were doing was pretty straight forward – putting together a database of optical professionals and a database of practices,’ says Moin. ‘We did that for two years and I also had a promotions company.’
By the 2005 the couple were married and looking to go into practice ownership. ‘We looked at the possibility of having a start-up practice but eventually elected to take over an existing business that could be profitable from day one,’ says Rachel. ‘We were looking to buy one practice but as things worked out, three became available at once from Hampshire Opticians so we purchased them all.’
The couple acknowledge that such a venture would be much more difficult to fund in the very different banking climate of today and subsequent additions to the group have been made possible by healthy profits rather than bank loans.
‘We threw ourselves in the deep end really,’ explains Moin. ‘The three original practices were all brilliant businesses in the sense that they were long established with a loyal patient base and place in the community. The flip side of that was that they were pretty dated in appearance and this was hampering the attraction of new patients. Once we took over we were able to increase turnover and profitability and everything we made was reinvested back into the practices. At that point our focus became to have modern, highly technological practices but with the traditional values of the very best customer services.’
The success experienced with those three practices convinced the Vallis to look for further businesses with a similar profile that would benefit from a similar approach. ‘The other practices that we have added over the years were all long established, all in need of a bit of TLC,’ comments Moin.
Over the years the values of the group have become more defined and all the practices are run to the same general ethos with heavy involvement in local communities.
‘Our strategy has been to avoid the sort of cut-price eyewear available on the high street. We offer value for money to people who appreciate that. In life, you generally get what you pay for. Everything is slowed down. Testing times are much longer, we have OCTs that we have recently invested in and it is really important to us to go above and beyond for each customer.’
Individualised approach
Some aspects of the practices are individualised to better suit their particular locations. ‘We look at the characteristics of the area, what the shops are like around it and what sort of clients are there,’ explains Rachel. ‘For example we have a core range of frames in every branch but this is supplemented by ranges tailored to the individual practice. Our Hebden Bridge practice carries more quirky designs because there is a big hippy and arts culture there. Meltham on the other hand is much more of a farming oriented place so we carry more traditional eyewear there.
‘The practice reflects the area; it has to fit in with what the local people want. We don’t want to become like a multiple in our approach no matter how many practices we run.’
The demands of running the business means that Moin now spends less time than previously as a clinician but he is determined to set aside some time for the consulting room. ‘I’m probably a clinician about half the time now and I work on the business the rest of the time,’ he says. ‘We are now at a point that I could stop being a clinician entirely but I really enjoy it and I think it also keeps me up to date with what is going on in the front line.’
Looking ahead the Vallis plan to keep expanding the optical business and are also interested in moving into other aspects of healthcare. In the short term they are looking to take on some younger staff. ‘We are passionate about taking on some younger people via the apprentice route,’ says Moin. ‘At first we were more limited as we needed experienced staff to come in and do the job straight away. Now we have a team of experienced staff and because unemployment rates are so high among young people here we intend to support them in building a career.’ ?