Interview: Indigo Lighthouse boss helps navigate CL supply

Optometrist Alan Cox abandoned the dark room at just the right time when he started up the Indigo Lighthouse Group in 1997.

The business he founded now handles 25 million contact lens package deliveries per year, on behalf of optical practices throughout Europe. It has 1.5 million patients on its database and manages around £350m worth of orders each year.

At the moment the Jersey-based firm does not have a system for independents, but provides a repeat purchase loyalty programme for a number of unnamed UK chains.

Cox believes that getting patients on such platforms could provide just the antidote for soaring competition from internet-only contact lens sellers.