Resetting a global brand

‘You’ll hear a lot about partnership today, it’s at the heart of everything we do,’ says Doug Perkins chairman and co-founder of Specsavers.

We are sitting in the staff restaurant, Contacts, itself a partnership between a local chef, Daniel Green, and the multiple. It is Specsavers’ optical partners that the Guernsey operation is focused on. The newly-refurbished open plan office headquarters houses 550 staff across a multitude of disciplines which helps support the 2,111 Specsavers stores around the world along with sister service centres in Nottingham, Southampton and Copenhagen.

Partner support

Supporting the partners is the prime function of everyone here, says Nick James, director of group services. The office oversees all aspects of practice life allowing partners to focus on patients. James is a man of many skills overseeing the 95,000sq ft facility, part of a network of centres that fulfil the delivery of 21.6 million complete spectacles and 550 million contact lenses each year. He also oversees the firm’s own travel agency that books and coordinates travel and accommodations for the visiting partners. Visitors arrive in the company aeroplane, dubbed the Airbus. Far from being a vanity project, the company plane makes practical sense. Its 16 scheduled services ferry partners and staff between Southampton, Nottingham and Guernsey. James says about nine years ago Specsavers decided to centralise travel ‘to take away the grind from partners’. The 30 minute hop from Southampton is quick and hassle-free, a far cry from scheduled flights. Visitors arrive fresh and free of wasted hours in cars or in the airport lounge. Around 40 partners a month visit Guernsey for a variety of reasons, not least to catch up with old acquaintances. As with so much done on Guernsey having control of travel is about efficiency and supporting the partners, he says, whether that be travel, replenishing stock or paying the wages.