How to boost your independent practice

Seven good guys riding into town to save the day against overwhelming odds is the enduring memory of John Sturges’ classic 1960 western. While The Magnificent Seven had a remake in 2016, optics is also benefitting from seven big guns hoping to save the day – this time for independents.

The independent optical sector has been under pressure for a long time. While there has been no shortage of organisations offering help, many independent optical businesses are struggling. So what is different about Storm? Nick Browning, managing director of Storm explains: ‘Everyone who is involved with the business has had similar thoughts regarding what the market needs and a fairly succinct idea of what that might look like’. Half of spectacle transactions take place in a Specsavers store and 15% in an independent practice, he added. ‘An entire generation of the population has grown up knowing nothing but the type of eye care you get in the multiples.’