L-R: Daryl Daryl Newsome, Kevin Gutsell and Brenda Rennie
Kevin Gutsell has succeeded Daryl Newsome to become president of the Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO) announced during a ceremony at the ABDO National Resources Centre in Birmingham on May 9.
Brenda Rennie, a dispensing optician (DO) at Ferrier & MacKinnon Opticians, part of the Hakim Group of independent practices, was also welcomed as ABDO’s new vice president during the ceremony.
Gutsell said: ‘I very much look forward to working with the new vice president Brenda and forging the style of leadership and teamwork which the immediate past president has afforded me during the last two years.’
In an optics career spanning 40 years, Gutsell has worked in practice, in sales and marketing roles for Alcon and Nikon Optical and as director of Optical Centre Supplies.
He has also been an ABDO College distance learning tutor since 1992, representative on the Spectacle Lens Committee at the British Standards Institute, GOC member of education visitor panels and ABDO Board member for 14 years.
Rennie, a DO for 23 years at the same independent practice, said she was ‘excited and nervous’ to take on the new role: ‘It is my desire to assist ABDO in maintaining its support and promotion of DOs effectively and professionally in all aspects, I believe my frontline experience can aid in this achievement.’