Provis to make 100m contact lenses a year

Scottish contact lens company Provis has secured a multi-million pound investment to meet the demand for its one-day daysoftuv lenses.Venture capital company Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) has invested £2m to install new manufacturing lines to increase annual output to 100 million lenses to meet demand. Provis chairman and managing director Ron Hamilton Ð the ÔfatherÕ of the daysoftuv lens Ð said global demand for disposable lenses currently outstripped available manufacturing capacity. Therefore his company was ramping up production.SEP put up £1m to fund the companyÕs expansion plans last year (News, March 23, 2001). It also provided the funding for Mr HamiltonÕs first business, Award, in 1993. Award was later sold to Bausch & Lomb for £30m, providing SEP with a 10-fold return on its investment.Blantyre-based Provis launched its daysoftuv lenses in April 2001. When the company launched its goals were: to make and sell the lenses; to be the lowest cost producer; and to be the Ôlowest cost-to-serve supplierÕ by using the internet to sell its products.Daysoftuv lenses quickly attracted attention from the UK, but also Europe, the Middle East and Australia, where customers are increasingly choosing disposable lenses. The company currently employs 60 people, but Mr Hamilton said the workforce should increase as a result of the investment and planned increase in production capacity.