Interview: Flow of innovation

There is a broad consensus that the UK lens market is extremely competitive at the moment. So, for the lens companies battling for their share of the pie, it is a good time to have people with genuine experience of both practice and lab work running the show. Russell Bickle, general manager of Shamir, ticks both those boxes having started out as a lab technician, before going on to train as a dispensing optician and work in practice, then switching to work in the industry.

‘I’m definitely a lens geek at heart,’ says Bickle. ‘I think if you’ve been in practice for a long time, you know how great it is to be in front of a patient with a problem that you can offer the right solution to. All the Shamir sales team have worked in practice and I think it gives us a good insight into what people need in terms of products and assistance day-to-day.’