Scrivens Opticians & Hearing Care has acquired Owl Optical to expand its branch network in the Midlands area.
The acquisition took the Scrivens group to 178 branches across England and Wales and ‘increased its ability to take advantage of the rapidly changing optical and hearing care market’, a statement said.
Owl, an independent owned by brothers Simon and David Harrison, has eight branches in Stratford upon Avon, Newquay, Weston-Super-Mare, Penzance, Royston, Shirley, Radcliffe and Ashton-in-Makerfield.
Scrivens chairman Nicholas Georgevic said: ‘We are very much a family company and our success, since my grandfather founded the business in 1938, has been built on a philosophy of making the customer our one and only focus. The Owl business has also been built on the same values, providing high quality professional eye care over many years.
‘Tactical acquisition is one part of our strategy for growth, but we are very careful to acquire companies with similar cultures and objectives, where customer satisfaction is the key priority and professional standards are extremely high.’
Following the acquisition, each Owl branch will continue to operate under its individual name with its 50 employees remaining with the enlarged group, the statement added. Scrivens’ hearing care services were to be introduced over the coming months.
Simon Harrison said: ‘My brother and I founded Owl in 1968 but the time has come for us to hand over the reins as my brother and I take retirement. The Scrivens Group is the perfect partner to take Owl forward and we are confident that our loyal staff will enjoy a bright future under the new ownership.’