View from the AIO: Independents have the advantage

As the multiples’ business models come under threat from the availability of eyewear through the internet, and they start to adapt their strategies to travel a path of delivering a wider range of clinical services, the independent sector has to react in a positive and progressive way.

The fact is the great majority of independent practices already deliver the enhanced clinical services the multiples aspire to, but it is the lack of public awareness that inhibits the sector taking full advantage of this unique positioning in the market place.

It has never been more important that the sector comes together to build public awareness from the ground up that great clinical care is available today in towns and cities across the country, and AIO intends to play an important role in enabling this to happen. That there are more than 1,000 independent practices offering OCT today and Specsavers has but 34 is not something the public might understand from what they hear and see in the media.