Situated on the North East coast of England, Sunderland became a city in 1992 upon the 40th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne. Once deemed unconquerable by invaders, it sits at the top of England and competes for the region’s bragging rights with its northern neighbours in Newcastle.
Andrew Garvey, optometry director at Specsavers Sunderland, says: ‘Sunderland is a small city with a big town feel. It is up and coming with a lot of ongoing investment particularly into the University which is very popular and well respected.
‘Compared to the region, Sunderland itself offers a community feel even though it has city status. People from Sunderland like to shop locally so they are loyal particularly if you are prepared to offer great customer service.’
Garvey’s says Sunderland’s ‘dedicated Eye Infirmary department’ is an ‘institution’, which distinguishes it from other UK areas.
Local fashion trends mirror the rest of the UK. Garvey (pictured) says they follow a ‘cyclical pattern’ with previously popular minimalist frames giving way to ‘small and square’, but now ‘big and bold is the order of the day with round and colourful frames becoming the must have look’.
Mandy Hixon, practice manager at On Spec, a retail-only outlet on the fringes of the city, has lots of patients ‘walk-in with prescriptions’ from local multiples and independents. ‘That’s the only way we make money,’ she jokes, ‘so customer service is our main priority.’
‘We are already very competitive when it comes to prices, but we really look after our regular customers price-wise,’ she adds. Hixon has worked in multiples in the past and feels her current role affords her more flexibility when it comes to what they can offer customers. ‘Often multiples won’t replace your frames after a year if they break, but we go above and beyond for ours and will always try to help’.
On Spec is dispensing only but is linked to See Optical, which provides clinical care nearby. Hixon says its ‘conversion rate is great’ and, that for any customers who do not purchase their frames there, ‘they come to us’. The two stores stock slightly different models but their relationship, plus the fact that ‘customers know we are linked’, mean they capitalise on almost all of their patients’ optical needs.
Who’s in town
Total: 10
Independents: 7
Multiples: 3
Average costs
The price of an eye exam in Sunderland ranges from £20 to £28, at an average cost of £23.40.
Population - see pie chart
227, 249
Community eye care
According to the Locsu Atlas Map of Optical Variation, Northumberland Local Optical Committee has a contract with Sunderland CCG in Children’s Vision, Glaucoma Repeat Readings and Cataract Referral.
Health and affluence
- The average house price in Sunderland is £143,605 (Zoopla), compared with a UK average of £223,257 (Land Registry, 2018).
- Sunderland has an average salary of £20,768, compared with a UK average of £27,271 (Payscale, 2018).
- In Sunderland by 2030, it is estimated that the number of people living with severe sight loss will rise by 34.5% (RNIB Sight Loss Data Tool).
- There were 473,280 sight tests performed in the Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear area last year (RNIB).
Fact file
- The first stained glass window in England was made in Sunderland for St Peter’s Church in AD674. The technique had been taken from continental Europe and taught to those in the town.
- Sunderland does not feature in the famous Domesday Book, which William the Conqueror commissioned to assess the wealth of the England and Wales, because large areas of the North East of England were deemed to be wasteland where William had no control.
- The comic actor Sid James, pictured, died of a heart attack while on stage at the Sunderland Empire Theatre in April 1976. At first, the actress Olga Lowe thought he was playing a joke when he did not reply to her cue.
- A person from Sunderland is referred to as a Mackem.
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