Optometrist of the Year Kirit Patel was left elated after winning two honours at the Optician Awards and hailed the use of latest technology in today's profession.
Patel, who has been practising for 20 years, also picked up the Technology Practice of the Year Award for his Radlett Opticians practice in Radlett, Hertfordshire.
He said in an interview afterwards: 'Without technology we just can't work in optics anymore. It is like flying a plane with just a compass and a chart but not having GPS. We'd be really lost in practice without technology.'
Patel also thanked a globalised patient base for making him Optometrist of the Year.
He added: 'I feel excited and elated, and would like to thank all the people who nominated me, including optometrists, ophthalmologists and patients.
'We have patients who travel from all over the world, including Canada and New Zealand, and it is gratifying to know they travel such long distances to have their eyes tested.'
Also on a roll at the Optician Awards this year was N and J Robinson Optometrists from Monkseaton, Tyne and Wear, winning the Independent Practice of the Year prize for the second time in three years.
A full list of the winners, chosen by independent judging panels in advance of the event, can be viewed on the opposite page, with individual honours going to Martin Varley, who won Dispensing Optician of the Year, and Nick Howard for Contact Lens Practitioner of the Year.