Premium products, a local lab and personal service is driving double digit growth in Hoya's independent business and resulted in a £1m investment in the latest technology at the Wrexham site, said managing director Martin Batho.
Speaking on the eve of the availability of Hoya's Blue Control lens from the North Wales plant, Batho said Hoya had been growing its independent opticians business by 15 per cent year on year for several years. Growth in the last month was 25 per cent.
'Independents are telling us that they want premium products delivered at a fast rate to practices,’ he said, adding that while some manufacturers continued to move production abroad, Hoya's Wrexham lab was there to support local independents.
Working at the plant has moved to 24-hour, seven-day shifts with more premium products being produced with increasing levels of automation. Blue Control, a coating designed to filter out harmful wavelengths of blue light, became available from Wrexham on July 1.
Further investment would see the introduction of 'hockey puck' manufacturing which creates a lens using freeform generation from a simple slab of monomer.
Batho added: 'Our customers are demanding premium products on short lead times so we are increasingly developing the capabilities of the local labs. This facility is primarily for UK independents, the model has changed. We are committed to having a local centre of excellence and I don't think we would have seen the level of growth we have without a local facility.'
Growth had been from current and new customers, Batho said, citing the Lens Product of the Year Award for HoyaluxiD Mystyle V+ in the recent Optician Awards. 'Interest from some of the larger independents is on the back of product performance, they try us for a specific product and they see what else we do. They like the service and they like the people. Optics is a relationship business,' he added.