This profession has made Optician's editor a very happy man. Year after year Optician calls on the profession to enter the Optician Awards and share their agonies and ecstasies with their peers and competitors. We know this is a big ask. Optical professionals are busy people and time spent entering our awards is time not spent consulting and dispensing.
This year I can report that Optician readers have taken our pleas on board - and some. The number of entries to the Optician Awards is more than double that of last year and way in excess of any other year before that. This makes me happy not just because more of our readers have engaged with the journal or that more of our readers will receive the recognition they so richly deserve, but because it is an indication of the confidence the profession and the business has in itself.
The fact that so much best practice will be on show will in itself benefit the profession because it will allow other practices to see what can work in the retail optical space. These practices will then be able to utilise that best practice to drive their business on, serve their clients and boost their confidence. A virtuous circle.
Optician organises its Awards as a goodwill gesture, to give something back to the profession. The level of entries this year is the best ever indication that that gesture is reciprocated.