Instrument and accessories supplier, Mainline Instruments, is celebrating 20 years in the optical business with some exciting expansion plans.
The Birmingham-based business was launched in 1997 with one supplier and a small range of optical accessories. It now supplies equipment from 20 different suppliers to practices around the country.
Founder Simon Hawkins, was keeping tight-lipped about details of the plans which will be announced soon but said: ‘The advances in technology and automation in the optical industry over the years have been astonishing, there is now a digital version of almost every single product I’ve worked with since the start of my optical career at the age of 17.
’Mainline is all about the products and its people. With the team I have and the emphasis we place on the relationships we build with suppliers, we’ve managed to sustain my vision of providing high quality products with the best personal service and I believe this has set us apart over the years.’ Proof of this, he said, was that Mainline still retains its very first employee, Garry Clarke, who joined the firm in 1998, and Tomey, its first supplier.