View from the AIO: What defines an independent?

What defines an independent?

This is a question that the AIO council has considered on a number of occasions down the years to arrive at its current definition which relates to ownership structure and who runs the practice. But in a fast-changing world there are other views and an almost inevitable blurring at the edges. Doug Perkins famously declared Specsavers as independent in 2016 which for most would stretch the bounds of definition beyond breaking point.

But there are other smaller multiple outlet practices that would fiercely claim to be independent and it is hard to know where to draw the line. There are other models as well, for example the Hakim Group practices operate within an entirely different structure and of course there are many forms of franchise which allow for varying levels of ‘independence’.