Ocuco-Relcon has made more of its shares available to employees as part of the merger between the two optical software firms.
Al Chetwode, Ocuco-Relcon chief executive, said both businesses were privately owned by the management and employees and as part of the merger, which took place in the summer (News, August 18), a decision was made to open up the ownership of the business to the employees.
A further 10 per cent share of the business has been made available to the employees.
'We have been heartened by the reaction,' said Chetwode. 'Two thirds of staff have taken up their allocation of shares, it was an equal proportion from the two companies. We are very much a company owned by the people who work in it.'
Ocuco-Relcon have brands such as the practice management systems Focus and Acuitas in its portfolio along with the lab systems, Labman and Labzilla.
Speaking exclusively to Optician about the merger and their future plans Chetwode and Leo Mac Canna, Ocuco Group CEO, said practices had been let down by the level of service and support offered by many IT firms and they felt the market was ready to embrace a new approach. Both firms share the same service ethos of continual improvement and proactivity, said Mac Canna.
Over the coming months Ocuco-Relcon has plans for a major investment into the next generation of practice management and manufacturing software. A full interview on the merger will appear in a forthcoming issue of Optician.