Simon Jones: The year that was

In just shy of a decade of working on Optician, it’s hard to recall a year quite so full of news as 2019. From retailer takeovers to retail-led optometry apprentices, from inclusive emojis to exclusive content, Optician delivered the news to the sector first.

Forgive me if this seems a little self-indulgent, but I would quickly like to touch upon my favourite news story of the year – the farcical Channel 4 Supershoppers piece on how to save money buying glasses.

I remember watching the video on 4 Catch Up somewhere in the region of 20 times, just to process everything that was being said by presenters and industry experts and because I wanted to this story to be watertight. Dirty retail tricks and poor advice about splitting up the frame and lens part of the purchase, including children’s glasses, were just some of the irresponsible clangers that irked the entire profession.