Joe Ayling: Contact lens strategy is award-winning common sense

This week’s issue includes the first of 18 profiles of practices, suppliers and individuals who managed to scoop an Optician Award this year.

Contact Lens Practice of the Year 2018 went to Specsavers Loughborough, which, by applying a few simple strategies, has transformed its CL business in the space of two years.

Interviewing the store director last week, the power of knowing your local market and recommending the right products came to the fore.

For many practice owners, when faced with a multitude of tasks relating to staff, finance, stock, property and more recently data, the very basics can fall by the wayside.

Up until two years ago, the practice was resting on its spectacle selling laurels, forgetting to upgrade or recommend the latest contact lenses despite a plethora of new products entering the market.