Despite the economic climate, 2008 has witnessed the largest expansion of refractive surgery clinics since 2002, the findings of Optician's annual refractive surgery survey have revealed.
The survey identified 128 clinics in the UK, 23 more than 2007 and further clinics have opened since the research was conducted.
According to the chief executives of Optical Express and Ultralase, the UK's largest laser treatment specialists, the refractive surgery market can sustain recent expansion by both companies and is well-placed to weather the recession.
'We're still seeing growth from our new clinics and those we've owned historically,' said David Moulsdale, chairman and chief executive of Optical Express. Acknowledging that the market would start to be affected by recession, he added: 'People's discretionary spending is becoming more careful.'
Tony Veverka, chief executive of Ultralase, commented: 'In the last few months, we've seen a slight tailing off of bookings at Ultralase. We're planning for a challenging market in the short to medium term, because this sort of market cannot be immune to this environment.'
Veverka envisaged that patients may defer any decision to undergo surgery during the recession, but claimed: 'They're still in the market so when the economy does bounce back, the market will recover fairly quickly and strongly. We're ensuring we trade effectively through the downturn so we're in a good position to take advantage when the market does pick up again.'
Both ruled out price decreases. 'Some people may chase the market with lower prices, but it's not on our agenda,' said Veverka.
With both companies expecting a slowdown in their expansion during 2009, Moulsdale revealed that the company had almost reached saturation point by having clinics within 40 minutes' drive of 90 per cent of the population. He claimed Optical Express' growth would be limited to the opening of three locations in Ireland in 2009 and converting other premises to include intraocular theatres.
Full report - page 21