Boots moves its RGP lens business to B&L

Boots Opticians has switched its supply of rigid gas-permeable lenses away from David Thomas Contact Lenses to Bausch & LombÕs Hastings subsidiary, formerly Madden & Layman.
David Simons, contact lens category general manager at Boots Opticians, confirmed this week that the change of supply would take place.
ÔWe wish David Thomas the very best and thank them for 10 years,Õ he said. ÔWe have a lot of goodwill towards David Thomas.Õ
He revealed the agreement with B&L would be purely GP lenses and would involve the majority of lenses. ÔIt is business as usual, they can supply any lenses, to any specification in any material.Õ
Mr Simons said the RGP business was significant for Boots with over 12,000 RGP patients a year. He had visited the Hastings plant and was impressed by the management ethos and style.
Mr Simons refused to be drawn on the reasons behind the change. ÔItÕs a standard business decision,Õ he said.
Maxine Green national sales manager for B&L said the company remained committed to RGPs and that the contract win at Boots was confirmation of its position as the leading RGP manufacturer in the UK.
William Thomas, managing director of David Thomas, said he did not wish to discuss confidential client relations. He said Boots had made the decision for commercial reasons and such decisions were part of the cut and thrust of business life.

ÔWe are a company who are always looking to new opportunities, that goes without saying.Õ