Independents back in vogue

There is a definite frisson of excitement at the moment around independent opticians. At this weekend's Optrafair the independent opticians association signed up 50 new members. Optician's own start up practice of the year had a  good number of entrants and the Independent Practice of the Year sponsored by Hoya had over 30 very high quality entrants.

Optician has made its own plans to help the independent sector through a tie up with the Independent Marketing Partnership which will be starting a scheme soon to educate practices in the ways of the recall letter. This also happens to be backed by ABDO, itself a supporter of the indy and Indpendents Day . Even Optician Index has been remastered to show trends for independents and regional chains.