In what is just over a year since the launch of Walter & Herbert eyewear, there is still a glint in the eye of James Conway when reflecting on the venture.
Named after founders Walter Conway and Herbert Thorn, the brand emerged when Conway, with fellow founder grandson Daniel Thorn and teams across offices spanning from Surrey to Merseyside, took on ‘an absolute mountain of work’.
What has resulted is a UK manufactured ophthalmic and sunglass brand, which coincides with the company’s 70th year in business. High profile parties, launch events and branded black cabs were used to publicise the collection, which carries the names of iconic figures from history including Constable, Chaucer and Woolf.
Another design is aptly named Churchill, as Optoplast Actman CEO James Conway tells a family story that began in the aftermath of the Second World War during an interview with Optician in the West End of London.
Moving with the times
Optoplast Eyewear first took shape in the south-east of England in 1946, when Conway’s grandfather developed the PIMO machine, pictured above.
‘The machine could heat up the temple and shoot in the core in one fell swoop,’ he says. ‘He patented this and it meant the business flourished. We started exporting temples all over the world from our factory in Guildford.’
Optoplast later moved to Surbiton, but by the 1980s new imports of cheap frames from the Far East started to disrupt the market.
Conway (pictured left) says: ‘The pricing was dramatically different to what people were used to paying for eyewear in the UK. Although the quality wasn’t quite as good, there was a big, big difference in price.’
This created a problem for Optoplast, employing a lot of staff at a large factory while the demand for its frame products was going down. It was time to diversify.
Conway adds: ‘We looked at alternative things we could produce in the UK, and one of those happened to be spectacle cases. We were in that industry and had the ability to do high frequency welding, sewing and some injection moulding in the UK. So we started doing that and our case business flourished.’
Indeed, it was not until the mid-1990s that Optoplast moved back into the frames sector, importing from France, Italy and the Far East to collaborate with various brands.
Witness to change
By 1999, Conway had joined the family business, having grown up in and around an optical industry that has changed so much since.
He says: ‘I used to go and visit the factory in Surbiton. I remember going in there and a quite elderly guy called Albert would show me what they were doing. I would help in the tumbling machines. I remember it so vividly because it was so noisy. The tumbling goes on 24 hours a day.
Optoplast’s 1951 stand at the British Industries Fair. The firm has taken inspiration from its frame designs during the era
‘When I was a kid I would be wheeled down to some of the trade fairs, particularly Optrafair. I got to know many people in the industry, although some of the businesses are sadly no longer with us, such as Cambridge Optical.
‘But in the last 30 years the industry has changed beyond all recognition. Who would’ve thought Dolland and Aitchison’s brand name wouldn’t be on the high street anymore?’
The Optoplast Actman Eyewear Company was formed in 2009 through the merger of Optoplast with Andrew Actman and Actman & Mico.
Walter & Herbert arrives
More change came three years ago, when Conway and Thorn decided there was a market for a new UK brand.
Conway says: ‘We spent a year planning and a year doing, then launched it about a year ago. What we have done with Walter & Herbert is positioned it so it is the only brand we do that’s made in England.
‘We had the reference from all of the frames we used to make, in the 1940s and predominantly the 1950s, 60s and 70s. We have taken inspiration from them but the manufacturing process these days is different with many more techniques we can apply. The materials are different and acetate is much softer these days.
‘We’ve got a lot of staff who have worked with us since the end of the 80s when we were still making frames. So we had the expertise already inside the business.’
Manufacturing in the UK is a key selling point for Walter & Herbert, with the production line plus head office, fulfilment and accounts all based in Liverpool and the firm’s design and marketing office in Byfleet, Surrey.
Although some processes still need to be outsourced abroad, the tumbling, shooting, mitering, polishing, ultrasonic cleaning and lens cutting all take place on home soil.
Conway says: ‘The power of saying we manufacture products in the UK is a really big deal, but the whole point of this wasn’t just to say we make the frames in England. It was more to say we make the best frames you can possibly get and they are made in England.
‘There are different techniques for each individual product. Manufacturing in general round the world is tough, wherever you are as raw material prices increase. Obviously, we can’t buy all the parts in the UK. We buy top of the range hinges from Germany, for example.’
Furthermore, the company sought out a machine designer in the UK to produce the tumbling machine domestically.
Conway adds: ‘We thought it was important to get someone close to home to make at least one of the machines, and that tumbling machine is really key to making acetate frames.
‘The investment is still going on now because the demand has been so strong. We’re already expanding the manufacturing facility to be able to take on more work. It’s growing so rapidly.
‘Getting the consistency of the quality is very hard. We’re doing it but it makes the process much slower. We are being extremely aggressive in ensuring the quality is always there. And that doesn’t just go for Walter and Herbert, that is across everything we do.’
Word of mouth retail
On the back of demand, a Walter & Herbert store was opened in Central London at the beginning of the year. Conway sees it as more of a showroom, adding: ‘The international customers we have look at Covent Garden as a very trendy part of London. It’s really amazing, somebody came in from the States and bought a couple of sunglasses and went back home, then literally a month later, one of their friends who happened to be coming to London for a business trip, came to our store to buy some glasses.’
The brand has also gone global with particular interest from the Asian market thanks to a unique nose bridge design, and following our interview Conway jets out to Hong Kong to exhibit.
Meanwhile, Optoplast Actman continues to make frames under licence for a number of other spectacle brands including Reykjavik Eyes and Karen Millen. It has also invested in lens firm Jai Kudo and Concept Eyewear through the Liverpool-based Yakira Group.
‘Lenses are now a part of our product portfolio,’ says Conway. ‘We have a big lens business in the UK but we want it to grow much more. We are investing a huge amount of time and energy in developing Jai Kudo lenses, and frames for that matter. It’s early days but we are really, really excited by it.’
Therefore, from manufacturing to parts to retail, Optoplast Actman now has a 360-degree view of the spectacle frames market. It means Conway, who is on the board of the Federation of Manufacturing Opticians (FMO), is well-placed to give his view of the wider high street environment and finds cause for optimism.
He adds: ‘I think the independents can really differentiate themselves on the product. If they can work with the suppliers who have products that are slightly unique and may not appear in the chain stores, I think that’s an area, whether it be on frames or lenses, where there will be rewards.
‘You have to fight, but the way we’re investing in what we’re doing, we’re trying to drive through efficiencies but never compromise. We don’t compromise on frames or any of the brands we work with any of the lenses, or cases or accessories – we don’t want to compromise on the quality of anything – that’s one of our absolute mantras.’
