Comment: We're here to reward you

An Optician Award has become one of the most prestigious accolades made to optical practices in the UK. Over the next few weeks the shortlists in the Optician Awards will be drawn up by the panels of judges.

But as with most awards processes, the prizes can only be awarded on the basis of the entries submitted. Now is the time you should be thinking about the special qualities of your staff and all the good work your practice has performed.

Optician Award winners are not beamed down from Mars or flown in from abroad. The winners will be practices just like yours, in a town just like yours, in a street just like yours. Over the past 10 years, more than 100 Optician Awards have been presented and all the winners had one thing in common. They had the confidence and the vision to put themselves forward, safe in the knowledge that they had made a difference to their patients for which they deserved recognition.