Norville to run £2m Pentax lab

The announcement is the concluding part of the news that Pentax is moving as part of its worldwide merger with Seiko (News, October 24).
The facility will be a separate entity from both Seiko and Norville, operating under the Pentax name, and will produce only Pentax products. The company denied the move means Norville will be taking over its brand, and confirmed it remains Seiko's distributor.
The three companies have made investments in the £2m lab, which will be run and managed by Norville, within a building in Paul Street. Many of the components are coming from the dismantling of the Pentax Slough lab.
Norville is to employ a new team for the project, including existing Pentax staff who decide to move, but no figures are available as many are still considering their position.
Pentax director David Moore told optician: 'The main reason is to put Pentax Vision Europe into the market more firmly, with a higher market share for the brand.
'This is a big positive step forward for us. We have tended to focus on manufacturing, and not as much on the sales and marketing side, but now we can concentrate on that.'A manufacturing agreement will see the Norville Group run the Pentax Vision Europe optical lab when the company moves to Gloucester in the new year.
The announcement is the concluding part of the news that Pentax is moving as part of its worldwide merger with Seiko (News, October 24).
The facility will be a separate entity from both Seiko and Norville, operating under the Pentax name, and will produce only Pentax products. The company denied the move means Norville will be taking over its brand, and confirmed it remains Seiko's distributor.
The three companies have made investments in the £2m lab, which will be run and managed by Norville, within a building in Paul Street. Many of the components are coming from the dismantling of the Pentax Slough lab.
Norville is to employ a new team for the project, including existing Pentax staff who decide to move, but no figures are available as many are still considering their position.
Pentax director David Moore told optician: 'The main reason is to put Pentax Vision Europe into the market more firmly, with a higher market share for the brand.
'This is a big positive step forward for us. We have tended to focus on manufacturing, and not as much on the sales and marketing side, but now we can concentrate on that.'