Mr Swalwell, who has been with Ciba Vision since 1988, has held a variety of positions with the company in the UK, Europe and Asia. He was latterly vision director for Ciba Vision based in Sydney, Australia and took control from Dr Housden at the end of February. Dr Housden moved this month to head Ciba Vision's north east Asia region. Practitioners have been invited to respond to planned improvements to Ciba Vision's services. Mr Swalwell has asked customers to e-mail him to express how they would like to see Ciba Vision help their businesses. 'I believe that the contact our customers have with us is key,' he said. 'I will make every effort to see that Ciba Vision takes an efficient and committed approach to customer service. 'Ciba Vision has a high-quality product portfolio and marketing programme focused on partnership with opticians. My priority in assuming responsibility for running Ciba Vision in the UK will be targeting our customer service.' His efforts were tested to the full after the early morning accident on February 26, when a tanker crashed into a lamp post within 100 metres of Ciba's offices. No one was badly hurt, but employees were evacuated as the tanker spilt 33,000 litres of petrol. Staff worked late into the night to restore lens ordering systems. Marcus Swalwell: commitment to customer service
Marcus SwAlwell has taken over from Dr John Housden as managing director of Ciba Vision in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. However, days into the role he had to cope with a 24-hour power cut at the company, after a petrol tanker accident outside Ciba's Southampton headquarters.