Yeovil used to be one of the biggest centres of aviation manufacturing in the country. Although it has experienced a decline in its industrial base aviation remains its biggest employer while the town boasts a number of theatres and, more importantly, opticians.
Ben Williams, co-director at independent Robert Frith Optometrists says: ‘Yeovil is a great small town with a nice surrounding countryside, and within an hour of Bristol and Bath. There’s a good theatre in town and a local football club which has great support.’ He also adds that there are helicopters constantly flying overhead, quite an odd thing for such a small town.
Williams has been running Robert Frith Optometrists for 13 years with his partner Simon Frackiewicz. Two years ago, it merged with the only other independent and Ben says it has been a ‘really good combination’. He does, however, say their biggest ‘business challenge’ is a lack of recruits and attracting young opticians to the area.
Williams says the practice, which has been in town for around 30 years, sees a diverse range of patients, including a lot of children as both him and Frackiewicz have experience in orthoptic issues in children.
His practice offers acute community eyecare services (ACES), which is a free service provided in partnership with Somerset CCG, designed for the assessment and treatment of recently recurring medical eye conditions.
‘I wouldn’t want to work anywhere that didn’t provide this kind of service under a ACES scheme. It really improves the level of care available to people,’ says Williams. He says the practice actively offers OCT to its patients and has IP qualified staff because of its primary eyecare work.
Alex Blincow (pictured), assistant manager at Boots Opticians, which also offers services under ACES, jokes he often spends some time explaining the benefits of ACES to people, ‘just to find out if they live on the other side of the CCG boundary in Dorset’, and are therefore not eligible.
Blincow has worked at the town centre branch for 18 months and he says it makes a real effort to try to cater to the everyday needs of the community. ‘We care more about every optical need, rather than just a pair of glasses. That’s what I think makes our practice special and stand out,’ he says. He speaks very highly of the town and its development in recent years: ‘The town’s been slowly improving over the years and now it’s on the up-and-up.’
Who’s in town
Total: 7
Independents: 1
Multiples: 6
Average costs
The price of an eye exam in Yeovil ranges from £23 to £37.50, at an average of £27.60.
Population
Yeovil population: 40,000 (Yeovil town council)
Community eye care
According to the Locsu Atlas Map of Optical Variation, Somerset Local Optical Committee has a contract for Somerset CCG in glaucoma repeat readings, OHT monitoring and minor eye conditions services.
Health and affluence
- The average house price in Yeovil is between £175,000 (ONS, 2015) and £219,099 (Zoopla), compared with the UK average of £226,756 (Land Registry, 2017).
- Average salary in Yeovil is £29,406 (Adzuna), with this consistently falling by 0.3% every year. www.adzuna.co.uk/jobs/salaries/yeovil
- In 2016, there were an estimated 21,970 people living in need of eye care in Somerset (RNIB Sight Loss Data Tool)
- About 4% of the population of Somerset were living with sight loss in 2016, compared with the national average of 3.1% (RNIB)
Fact file
St John’s Church in Yeovil was built way back in 1405, and is affectionately referred to as ‘the Lantern of the West’ because of its large, arching windows.
In the 1800s Yeovil was at the centre of the glove making industry, leading to rapid population growth and its integration into the national rail network.
During World War II Yeovil was a key site for the aircraft industry. As such, it was the target of German bombing, leaving many buildings damaged or destroyed.
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