“We want to raise awareness of eye care, especially eye hygiene”

From receiving the Queen’s Award for Innovation – twice – to being named one of the fastest growing companies in Yorkshire in 2022, The Body Doctor has collected several high-profile accolades and continues to make waves in the industry.

In July 2024, Sue Grant, the co-founder and managing director of the family-run business, was awarded with an MBE for Services to Entrepreneurship in the King’s Birthday Honours. 

OT heard from Grant about The Body Doctor’s plans for further growth, focusing on the UK independent sector, and some of the opportunities ahead in the dry eye market. 

Behind the scenes with The Body Doctor

What makes The Body Doctor unique?

I believe it’s the family ethos. We work incredibly hard as a team to deliver the best possible care to customers by providing the highest quality products, while trying to be as affordable as possible to patients.

What is the latest product, resource, or service that you have released and why does it stand out from the crowd?

We recently launched The Eye Doctor Triple Action Eye Drops for dry eye, which is incredibly exciting. These drops target all three layers of the tear film with the addition of sacha inchi seed oil to replenish the lipid layer while remaining contact lens-friendly and preservative and phosphate-free. This product has provided some amazing results after just two drops, taking bulbar redness down from an objective grading of 3.4 down to 1.9.

Are there any new projects or plans in development that customers should be aware of?

The Body Doctor is continuing its growth strategy with a focus on the UK independent sector, the backbone of eye care in this country. We have some exciting new products launching next year to better support the sector.

The Body Doctor is continuing its growth strategy with a focus on the UK independent sector, the backbone of eye care in this country

How is The Body Doctor team changing or growing?

We have seen rapid expansion of our teams over the last few years and cannot see things changing. We are constantly on the lookout for exceptional people to join The Body Doctor to help us continue the success we have seen.

What are the company’s main ambitions for the next 12 months?

The vision of the business was, and continues to be, to devise, develop and supply innovative solutions that focus on promoting and optimising eye health. Backed by science, and supported by experts in the medical field, we want to raise awareness of eye care, especially eye hygiene, and deliver a series of preventative solutions and treatments to common problems.

What has it meant to you to receive MBE recognition?

Receiving an MBE is unbelievable. Starting my own business, The Natural Wheat Bag Company, in 1996 with an idea for a product that didn’t exist at the time, was both challenging and daunting. The goal was to create a market for a product that nobody had seen before or even realised they needed. With no business experience and limited qualifications, it proved to be a massive learning curve. The journey from that time through to 2012, when The Body Doctor was founded, was quite the white-knuckle ride. As all start-ups are aware, the key is to just keep going. To have those times recognised and to receive such an honour is incredibly special to me.

The journey from that time through to 2012, when The Body Doctor was founded, was quite the white-knuckle ride. As all start-ups are aware, the key is to just keep going

Beyond the brand

What is your view on the eye care market currently?

I think the market has recovered well since COVID-19 and will continue to grow. I see many practices moving into new revenue streams, such as dry eye, to diversify and interact with patients more often. We have seen that more touch points with patients increases revenue, not only in dry eye consumables, but also frames and contact lenses as well.

What are some of the external or market challenges you see facing the sector?

I think product education is going to become more difficult. There are so many new and amazing products out there and for practices to know which ones to use, and when, will become more challenging. However, this pushes us as suppliers to up our game to ensure that we are providing the best possible service to the sector.

What are the biggest opportunities that you see currently?

Commercialising the dry eye market, like dentistry. When the dentist says you need to come back every six months to visit the hygienist, we don’t question it. However, practitioners can feel it’s difficult to ask a dry eye sufferer to come back to a dry eye clinic. We feel this is a huge opportunity for the sector, which is why we launched the Dry Eye Revolution at 100% Optical. This is a powerhouse of expertise to help practices become a fully functional dry eye clinic within 30 days.

We also demonstrated how practices could offer health screening for their patients using the pioneering LifeMeter to painlessly measure their carotenoid nutrient levels to help assess their risk of developing age-related macular degeneration or Alzheimer’s disease. We are really looking forward to 2025 and the next 100% Optical, when we can share more exciting advancements with practitioners.

Pictured front centre: Sue Grant, managing director of The Body Doctor, and The Deputy Mayor of Kirklees, Councillor Nosheen Dad. With Sam Wymer (left), sales and marketing manager, and TV medic, Dr Hilary Jones, behind, along with Body Doctor staff, celebrating the opening of The Body Doctor Eye Clinic on April 8.