The East Midlands town of Lough-borough is perhaps best known for its university, which has moved steadily up the ranks to be the seventh best in the UK, according to The Complete University Guide. With such a good educational reputation, the town is also bolstered by its optical services.
Matthew Austen, optometrist and director of David Austen Optometrists, has been running the practice for three years. He explains: ‘A man called Mr Ingram opened the practice in the 1930s and my father bought into the business in the 1970s.’
Austen has been working at the town’s practice since 1999. ‘Loughborough is a medium sized university town, which gets busy when the students are around. Our patients are very loyal and are always willing to wait for appointments. As a well-established practice, we have the pleasure of examining generations of the same families who are welcomed by our friendly staff.
‘Our patients are very loyal and are always willing to wait for appointments.’
The practice offers a variety of optical services, including OCT, Optomap, overnight visual correction and colorimetry for patients with dyslexia and visual stress. Austen (pictured) says: ‘We also see keratoconic patients and treat them by using a corneal topographer.’
Popular frame brands at David Austen Optometrists are Elle, Morgan, Puccini, Jaeger, Mont Blanc and Maui Jim sunglasses.
Another opticians practice that stands the test of time is Culver & Glass Optometrists, which is more than 50 years old. Natalie Glass, optometrist and director of the practice, is celebrating her 21st anniversary at the practice and enjoys working in Loughborough.
‘It’s a vibrant university market town. The university usually ranks highly in the UK and I know it consistently wins awards. Meanwhile, we have a very loyal patient base. In fact, I saw a 27-year-old patient the other week for an appointment, and we realised that the first time I saw her was when she was six.’
The practice offers services such as OCT, Optomap and Mpod and hopes to include Ortho-K in the future. It was also one of the first places in the country to do red eye referral schemes 18 years ago. Glass says: ‘We do well here, it’s thanks to the hardworking team that embraces whatever is thrown at them.’ Indeed, the practice boasts an Optician Award for Best Optical Assistant Team of the Year.
Who’s in town
Total: 8
Independents: 4
Multiples: 4
Average costs
The average price of an eye exam in Loughborough ranges from £0 to £59, at an average cost of £27.
Population - see pie chart
Population: 179,289
Community eye care
According to the Locsu Atlas Map of Optical Variation, Leicestershire and Rutland Local Optical Committee has a contract with East Leicestershire and Rutland CCG in Cataract Post-op, Cataract Referral and Glaucoma Repeat Readings.
Health and affluence
- The average house price in Loughborough is £237,225 (Zoopla), compared with a UK average of £223,257 (Land Registry, 2017).
- Loughborough has an average salary of £28,846, compared with a UK average of £27,271 (Payscale 2018).
- In Loughborough, it is estimated that 7,170 people live with early stage AMD. (RNIB Sight Loss Data Tool).
- By 2030, it is predicted that 32,720 people in Leicestershire will be living with sight loss – an increase of 43.6%.
Fact file
In 1841, Loughborough was the destination for the first package tour, organised by Thomas Cook for a social movement group from Leicester that was against the consumption of alcohol.
Loughborough has been the home to John Taylor & Co bell founders. The recording of the tolling bell at the start of AC/DC’s song Hells Bells was made on a quarter weight near replica of a Denison bell in the Carillon war memorial.
The town is the birthplace of Ladybird Books, which were first printed in Angel Yard off Market Place. A green plaque, pictured, was installed in the town centre in October 2015 as part of the Ladybird Books’ Centenary celebrations.