Optician news in brief

Vivien Freeman will retire from the post of secretary general to the British Contact Lens Association at the end of the year after 28 years in the role. 'When I first joined as secretary general in 1985, we were a small organisation which I managed from my office at home,' she said. 'Today we have 2,350 members, a conference with more than 1,000 delegates, continuing education events, numerous publications both online and offline and of course email, social media and the website.'

CooperVision is to sell its Japanese rigid gas-permeable contact lens and solutions business Aime to Nippon Contact Lens for an undisclosed amount. Robert Weiss, Cooper's president and CEO, said: 'The decision to divest Aime is consistent with CooperVision's strategy to focus on its core soft contact lens business. Additionally, Aime has declining revenue and lower than average company margins. The business was obtained in 2010 as part of a very successful acquisition which included obtaining the rights to sell Biofinity in Japan.'