Simon Jones: Lasting legacies

The past few weeks have seen UK Optics finally getting on board the strange and unexpected train that we’ve now come to know as 2020.

One of the industry’s institutions, the Norville Group, was broken up, placed in administration and then rescued by Inspecs (7 Days), all in the blink of an eye. In this uncertain climate, jobs being saved by the safe hands of Inspecs and the Hakim Group, which has acquired Norville Opticians, should be the take home message here. The Norville name is synonymous with optics in the UK, but I think even Frank Norville would be happy that his staff will remain employed, rather than the company’s legacy being allowed to fizzle out.