There was a double celebration for the Kings Cross Eye Clinic as the north London practice scooped top position in the Software Practice of the Year Award sponsored by OcucoRelcon and the Applied Spectacle Technology Practice of the Year Award sponsored by Optovision.
The Awards ceremony was held in the Monarch Suite of the Hilton Birmingham Metropole over the Optrafair weekend so it was no surprise that guests from around optometry, dispensing and the optical industry flocked to the venue for the James Bond-themed bash.
The evening started with a champagne reception sponsored by Rupp+Hubrach. Guests were welcomed to the event by Optician editor Chris Bennett. He reminded diners that the evening was a celebration of achievement in optics and the drive for high personal standards. Bennett used the opportunity to highlight the efforts of Fiona Bosher who is striving for excellence in sport. Bosher will represent UK optometry as the British member of the Oakley Transitions Ironman Team (See feature April 6).
A four-course dinner was then served accompanied by a James Bond scene which saw Brian Bowles of Grafton Optical and Andy Hepworth of Essilor 'held hostage' much to the delight of the audience. The chief hostage-taker delivered an hilarious speech on optics before the day was saved by a James Bond look-alike amid much shooting and play fighting.
The double act hosting the evening was Sandi Toksvig and Tony Hawks. He kicked off the evening with a short comedy set before being joined on stage by Toksvig to complete the hosting of the event. The two shared the honour of introducing the categories and the shortlists and, once the awards had been presented, invited the guests to dance the night away. Other entertainment for the evening included a charity casino which raised £2,000. This money will be divided up among those shortlisted in the Charity Campaign of the Year Award sponsored by The Outside Clinic.
A first for Optician was the fantasy imaging booth sponsored by GfK. This allowed guests to superimpose their face into a range of James Bond scenes. The pictures were framed and taken away by the guests courtesy of the sponsor GfK.