The granite city is famous for its history, culture and links to North Sea oil but one lab in the heart of Aberdeen has maed a name for itself by manufacturing and glazing ophthalmic lenses. Independent lab Caledonian Optical was established in 1976 and has been making its own lenses for almost a decade. In June last year, it launched its now flagship brand, ARC Steady.
‘We’ve been manufacturing our own lenses for almost 10 years now,’ says Mark Robertson, head of manufacturing at Caledonian Optical. ‘During that time there was nothing particularly special about what we were doing. I mean we were creating good quality lenses, but it certainly wasn’t worth applying for Lens Product of the Year.’
That all changed in June of last year when it commenced production of its ARC Steady lenses, which combine a variable base curve with control of the sphere power and oblique aberrations in the lateral areas of the lens.
‘It was a game changer,’ says Robertson. ‘Customers were saying “this is fantastic, so much better than my last lens”. So then we started offering it to more companies and the feedback continued to be amazing.
‘After the feedback we just felt that there was something special about this lens – it’s so good – so why not put it into Lens Product of the Year,’ he says.
Robertson says he and the team were not expecting to win, not least because of the ‘big multinational lens producers who have massive R&D budgets’ who enter the awards. He says the hope was ‘just to be shortlisted’ to get the recognition they thought they deserved.
‘We were not at all expecting to win,’ he grins. ‘We’re still on cloud nine. For us, being shortlisted was going to be our selling point. But on that night when we won. Wow!’
The company wasted no time in putting the award to good use. ‘We attend Optrafair every year and usually we try and attract people into the stand to look at our products. But on the Sunday, with that award sitting on the table, the amount of people who came to us asking about it and who were intrigued about ARC Steady was huge. There was a 50% increase in leads and interest from people then on any other year we have been,’ says Robertson.
Months after the highs of the ceremony and the exposure of Optrafair, Robertson says the effect of the award has not lost it potency. ‘For ARC Steady, which is selling more than anything else, we had 50% more orders in the month following the award than we have had in any other month. Ever. In the history of Caledonian Optical.’
‘We usually have two sales guys who travel about and try to drum-up interest and custom, but now we have people actively calling us up and asking about our lenses,’ says Robertson. ‘It’s really been a start of something good for us and we’re starting to take on more and more work.’
He says one of the most encouraging things has been the feedback from opticians and their patients. ‘We had one patient get back to us and say, “I’ve been lying in my bed sideways and I can still see the TV!”,’ he jokes. ‘It’s been amazing to hear. We’ve never really been that big on promoting our products but now opticians are asking us for posters and stickers saying, “we stock ARC Steady, Lens Product of the Year” and “we want to be able to promote this lens”. So, our marketing department has been working on that recently.’
Robertson says the award, coupled with a firm belief in the efficacy of ARC Steady, has really enthused the team at Caledonian Optical. ‘For us as an independent lab, it’s starting to really show that you don’t need to have a branded lens to have the highest quality product on the market. What we can offer as an independent is comparable with the lenses from large multiples. And to win the award is further justification that the technology puts us on a level playing field with these multinational, big lens companies.’
Given the significant increase in orders received by Caledonian Optical since the award, Robertson says it may need to move to bigger premises soon as its two production lines already take up a lot of space in the lab.
‘It’s been a real turning point for us, this award,’ he adds.