Barry Dibble, FMO chairman
The FMO is looking forward to working cohesively with our partners in the Optical Confederation for the common good of the profession and industry. We are keen to reach out to our members, and potential membership, and to move the eye health and vision correction message further up the public’s agenda.
Our increasingly popular regional meetings will take centre stage in 2015, with an inspiring line up of speakers to add breadth to our membership knowledge. The array of tangible benefits on offer to FMO members bring genuine reasons to engage with colleagues in all aspects of the optical supply chain.
Increasing communication through our e-letters, website, and Twitter encourages members to interact. For others within the optical community they provide the means to find out more of the unrivalled leadership role that we take as optical technology leaders, lab innovators and fashion providers – from our diverse range of member companies.
[CaptionComponent="918"]Paul Surridge, Sight Care chief executive
Independents are better placed now to capitalise on an improving economy than at any time in the past decade. In the past few years Sight Care has seen its members invest confidently in high-end consulting room technology and practice refits as well as front office management systems enabling them to generate and use information to better effect. They’ve also recognised the importance of staff training and marketing techniques to attract and retain patients.
2015 should be a good year for independents with average revenues and profitability improving. We should see overall growth in the optical market with steady growth in contact lens penetration and the introduction of new material technologies. The challenge will be finding strategies to discourage drop-outs, maintaining patient commitment long-term. The frame market will remain fiercely competitive with key brands and low-price product winning through at the expense of mid-priced collections.
We will concentrate on core activities to ensure our members and the wider independent sector makes the most of market opportunities. Our National PR campaign will undertake consumer attitudinal research to better understand the mind-set of consumers with regard to eye care and eyewear. The research findings will be used to promote the values of independent community opticians in towns and cities across the UK.
[CaptionComponent="919"]David Hewlett, FODO chief executive
2015 should be a big year for community optics. We must push forward on the goals of the Call to Action and the Five year Forward View in England and the other UK countries’ plans – including putting in place better IT links with the NHS, ensuring better cross-sector collaboration and delivering primary care outside hospital ‘at scale’.
We need to continue to support the growth and influence of the Clinical Council, Local Eye Health Networks and LOCs. Working with partners across the UK and the UK Vision Strategy we must make eye health services as ‘election-proof’ as possible, delivering regular sight testing and eye health for all.
FODO’s membership covers the whole spectrum of the optical sector – from individual practitioners and independent practices to businesses and groups of all sizes. Along with our day-to-day clinical and business support and insurance services, in 2015 we will continue to work with all partners to push for this expanded role for community eye health services as part of a reinvigorated primary care sector. I hope this year will be the tipping point and that patients, populations and practitioners will all see the benefits.
[CaptionComponent="920"]Samantha Peters, GOC chief executive
A key focus for 2015 will be our ongoing strategic standards review. The review is seeking to ensure that our standards continue to reflect good practice now and in the future, while enabling optical professionals to develop their roles – for example, by delivering more enhanced community services.
We would particularly encourage registrants to get involved in our consultation on this project – especially those registrants who work in the devolved nations of the UK. For the project to succeed it’s absolutely crucial that we fully understand the way the professions are diverging in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
From March to May we will consult on new standards of ethics and performance, while later in the year we will look at competency standards and education. There will be plenty of opportunities for all registrants to get involved in these consultations.
Continuing our efforts to speed up our fitness to practise process will also remain a priority – but we would rather help registrants to avoid being subject to complaints in the first place. That’s why promoting higher standards will be such a focus for us in 2015.
[CaptionComponent="921"]Cheryl Donnelly, BCLA CEO
As we begin a new year, I feel the challenge remains to encourage all ECPs to discuss all vision correction options during the eye examination, or during the handover to the dispensing optician, including contact lenses.
I hope that my position as BCLA CEO will enable me to take the Association to the next stage in its history; creating an environment to promote this life-enhancing vision correction, supporting ECPs in delivering the best possible care to their contact lens patients, and providing a forum for the industry to showcase their innovations – all driving towards one goal: an enhanced, healthy, comfortable contact lens wearing experience.
2015 will see the 39th clinical conference and exhibition in Liverpool, where meeting these challenges will be my aim. The BCLA should be the place to go for all contact lens and anterior eye education and practice support. We still have a way to go to hold that accolade, but the journey begins now.
[CaptionComponent="922"]Tim Moore, CMO of wearable technology firm Rochester Optical
2015 will see demand for smart glasses rise sharply. Optical professionals need to be ahead of the curve and get ready for what is set to be the next big thing in smart technology. With interest surging by consumer and enterprise the world over, smart glasses may be the most game changing innovation since the first smart phone. This will have a massive impact on the eyewear sector with prescription lenses and frames for smart glasses presenting significant new revenue streams for opticians.
Many eyewear manufacturers are taking notice. With the merging of fashion and technology, the future of eyewear is getting clearer. Technology giants like Google, Seiko, Epson, Samsung, Lenovo, Sony and Microsoft all either have smart glasses on the market or are releasing one shortly. The global stage is ready to mushroom quickly, not just in units sold but also in real profit. Global revenue from smart devices will triple by 2016 and surpass $50bn in sales by 2019, according to Jupiter Research.
Rochester Optical saw this coming and developed the most advance Rx lens solution for smart glasses called Smart Gold Lenses, which provide visual acuity when you are wearing smart glasses including Google Glass, Vuzix M100 and Epson Moverio BT200.
[CaptionComponent="923"]Henrietta Alderman, chief executive, AOP
Protecting, defending and representing our individual members has always been at the heart of everything we do. Our plans for 2015 will reinforce this, ensuring that we fully support our members in the changing optical landscape.
As a founding member of the Optical Confederation, we will continue to work with other stakeholders to champion the profession and lobby national decision-makers. It will be an interesting year with the general election and, new for 2015, we are setting up a policy committee to develop our positions on key professional issues.
We are committed to providing members with first-class education and training, which will be delivered through a number of means from national conferences, to CET in print and online and evening peer review. This year we are also launching a series of non-clinical courses and one-to-one career advice sessions, supporting our members’ career development beyond the clinical.
Towards the end of the year we will re-launch the AOP and OT websites as a single, modern, interactive site to meet the changing needs of our members. They can expect a more personalised, tailored experience, including new features that enable better communication with the AOP, Council representatives and peers.
It’s an exciting time for the AOP; 2015 will be a year of change, challenge and improvement and I look forward to sharing our progress with you throughout the year.
