Mind the gap

‘We don’t copy what someone else does but fill holes,’ says Christian Hoeferl, head of sales at the Michael Pachleitner Group (MPG) which is currently building up a field sales force ready to knock on the doors of optical practices up and down the land.

In an age where frame companies are formed on a daily basis, he is keen to get across the scale and heritage of the Austrian MPG. The firm celebrates its 60th birthday this year and since the mid-1980s has been in the hands of its eponymous owner. That takeover marked an international push that has seen the firm sell to 74 countries around the world and grow to a business employing 1,000 people and turning over £120m. MPG is also a true eyewear business with half of its turnover in lenses but for now MPG is just targeting the UK with frames.