Essilor celebrates 40 years of manufacturing in Thornbury

Essilor in the UK and Ireland marked 40 years of manufacturing at the Thornbury site near Bristol with a day of celebration for 140 guests from the optical profession and industry, along with former directors of the company.

Attendees, including representatives from ABDO and the FMO, were taken in groups through a new heritage trail, where developments in the company’s history were pictured and recorded across the Essilor laboratory and headquarters. This was officially opened by the Mayor of Thornbury, Councillor Rawlinson, who praised Essilor for 40 years of work there, describing it as a great reward for the town.

The plant, set up from scratch in 1974, was transformed in July 2013 into a centre of excellence for independents, producing only digitally surfaced lenses. Speaking to Optician, managing director Mike Kirkley said that Thornbury now produced over 1 million lenses a year of its premium brands including Crizal UV, Crizal Prevencia and Varilux.