Look Local: A personal touch in Barnet

In the first of a new Optician series looking at practice in local communities, reporter Saul Sebag visits Barnet to find out more about a suburban borough straddling 33 square miles of north and outer London that is host to approximately 79 optician practices. He interviews Shyam Divani, the young local owner of small but established independent, Style Eyes Opticians, who highlighted the significance of the local practitioner to a culturally diverse and highly populated UK community.

AMONG THE ANTIQUES

Practicing near the epicentre of Barnet is Style Eyes Opticians, a small modern-looking independent made up of a dispensing-reception area and a consulting room. It opened 14 years ago on a terraced parade and sits alongside the local chemist, the post office, and an antique store just off the dense congregation of multiples on the Barnet High Road. Current owner Divani, who is still in his twenties, is a lifelong resident of the area having grown up in nearby Southgate and acquired the practice in 2012. He employs a small team made up of two part-time staff, one permanent and himself as the optometrist.