Specsavers reaches 600

The 600th practice, in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, is run by optometrist director Philip Talbot and retail director Jonathan Richards, who lead a team of seven.
The milestone is the latest expansion for the Guernsey group, which bought into Sweden earlier this year. The acquisition of optical group Blic has led to plans to re-brand and double the number of Blic practices in the next three to five years, creating up to 200 new jobs.
Specsavers also intends to grow its market share in the Netherlands, with the launch of 10 new stores and the creation of 100 new jobs.
Annual turnover for the Specsavers Group reached record levels of £545m in 2003/4, and last month it was voted Britain's most trusted opticians (Reader's Digest survey 2004) for the third consecutive year.