“It’s a really exciting opportunity as I look in the front windscreen of where the profession is heading”

“We’re expecting to pass 600 over the next 12 months,” Hakim shared, adding that practices have continued to join from across the country.

“If we look back five years ago, we didn’t have many independent practices in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and we’ve seen an acceleration of practices wanting to join the Hakim Group family over those five years. Now I think we are well represented across the five nations and we continue to get more interest,” he said.

OT met with Hakim to discuss the growth of the business, some of the opportunities ahead, and what it is like to run an optometry practice in 2025.

In addition to passing milestone figures, this year has been important for Hakim Group, as it presented its new Vision2030 strategy.

Hakim said: “Our challenge has always been trying to keep up with the demand of practices and partners who want to join the Hakim Group family of independent practices and the strength and support the community brings.”

The strategy is a roadmap, he said, around building out the team and infrastructure with a growth mindset that is “fit for the future in a rapidly evolving world.”

It is also about pushing boundaries of what can be achieved by independent practices, he said, as well as elevating the Hakim Group ‘people and partner’ promise, and patient promise, to ensure care is integrated and tailored across the country.

Hakim shared: “If I fast forward five years, our eye care and hearing care will be even more integrated, and we will have this tailored solution across even more communities than the ones our independent practices serve today. I think that’s an incredibly exciting journey to go on.”

Broadening scope of practice

With practices in Hakim Group spread across the country, the business is in a position to understand the commonalities across optometry.

Hakim said: “Independent practice owners are renowned for pushing the boundaries and finding new innovations in service and eye care. We continue to work with our supply chain partners to unlock that ambition.”

Hakim Group has observed an appetite from practices and clinicians who “have all the equipment, accreditations, and ambition” to widen their scope of practice and diversify to enable more eye care to be delivered in a primary care setting.

The company is working with supply chain partners to unlock that ambition, he said, adding: “We don’t mandate for everybody to do things in one way, so we get to see all the variations.”

“I would say that independents are uniquely positioned because they have no constraints to shape the future of the practice, but the challenge is they don’t always have the resources or the togetherness to do that – and that is where we are uniquely placed,” he continued.

Independent practice owners are renowned for pushing the boundaries and finding new innovations in service and eye care

Looking at what could be ahead for the profession, Hakim shared: “We’re excited about the new care models and pathways that will further converge optometry and ophthalmology.”

With a growing population of people living to older ages, along with the funding challenges, Hakim said: “I think there is an inevitability and a need for this convergence to happen to ensure that the needs of the UK population are suitably met.”

The challenge will always be the variation in how services are delivered to NHS patients, he noted, which results in complexity for clinicians and practices.

This convergence might also accelerate changes already playing out in ophthalmology in the ownership of providers.

“I think this will all create a significant shift over the next five years, and we want to ensure that we are well positioned to support independent practices by helping shape that landscape as part of our Vision2030 roadmap for ophthalmology and optometry to work together,” Hakim said.

“What that should result in is better patient outcomes and greater productivity for the health service, which is under so much pressure right now,” he added.

The Government has expressed its ambition to see more care delivered in community settings, with talks of a neighbourhood health service designed around community health hubs incorporating primary care services.

OT asked how practices in Hakim Group are positioned for these shifts?

Hakim said: “I think, traditionally, clinicians in independent practices have been at the forefront of driving clinical innovation and caring for patients in the community. I’d say that the independent sector is aligned and able to deliver more services, particularly at an advanced and higher level.”

This is already evident in Wales and Scotland under the general ophthalmic service contract provisions, he noted, where independent clinicians are “well established and enabled to deliver advanced care – especially with independent prescribing, medical retina, and glaucoma.”

There will be greater opportunity in this area over the course of the next five years, Hakim proposed.

He shared: “It’s a really exciting opportunity as I look in the front windscreen of where the profession is heading – and there is a real political will to want to unlock the productivity gains, the efficiency gains, and the better patient outcomes, that I think this will result in.”

Marking 20 years

In 2026, Hakim Group will mark an exciting milestone as it celebrates its 20-year anniversary. Hakim opened his first practice in his hometown of Bolton, shortly after qualifying as an optometrist.

Looking back, Hakim told OT: “I didn’t set out to build a large group of independent practices. Quite simply, I wanted to create a great place to work, with people who you want to work with. A happy place where you can grow and achieve everything you aspire to in your pursuit of happiness.”

Read more

The Imran Hakim episode

In the eleventh episode of The OT Podcast, we speak to CEO of Hakim Group, Imran Hakim

“The 20-year milestone really sparks a lot of nostalgia from the first practice that I opened up in my hometown in Bolton, with a £2000 loan from my late father, to the many communities that we now serve with eye care and hearing care across the five nations, and the many practice partners who have been part of that journey,” he shared.

Describing the past two decades as a rollercoaster ride, what he finds truly exciting is to look to the future.

He said: “What really sends an exciting tingle down my spine is the thought of what we can achieve over the next 20 years with the people – our practices, our partners, and the fantastic leadership team we have – coupled with the resources that we now have at our disposal as well.”

Exponential change

The profession has seen a great deal of change in the 20 years since Hakim first opened the doors of his independent practice.

Hakim commented: “It’s fascinating to reflect back on just how far we’ve come as a profession. Whether it be digitalising, retinal imaging, myopia management, or new services like minor eye conditions services in England, and the differences with the general ophthalmic services (GOS) contract in Scotland and Wales which have enabled a broader scope of practice and care – we are continuing to build momentum to offer even more to our patients.”

The profession continues to evolve rapidly, and Hakim suggests changes in regulation could drive innovation within the traditional mode of delivery for eye care.

This has already been seen with teleoptometry in other countries, Hakim suggested, while the proliferation of artificial intelligence could shape how optometry continues to develop and possibly help to optimise the patient journey in the coming decade.

He continued: “It’s easy to be scared because it’s new territory and it’s change – which can feel overwhelming and daunting. But therein lies the opportunity, and I think surrounded with the right information, the right network and resources, and the right people, that is an exciting future.”

The patient, or consumer, in 2025 is also more knowledgeable and demanding than at any point previously.

Hakim noted: “This means that the demands on practice owners who, like me went to university to study how to be a great clinician, are far greater than at any time before. It can feel overwhelming at times because the pace of change is relentless.”

“I often say that you almost need to be a mini economist, as well as being an optometrist, if you’re going to be successful in running a business,” he shared.

I often say that you almost need to be a mini economist, as well as being an optometrist, if you’re going to be successful in running a business

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Hakim noted, inflation and interest rates were low.

He shared: “In the last 24 months, we’ve already been to double digit inflation and exponentially rising interest rates. It is a fast-changing world in which independent practice owners not only have to do the best they can for their patients, they’ve got to run a business, and they need to know how to deal with all of those things.”

This is an area Hakim Group spends a lot of time on to help its practices navigate the factors that affect optical businesses – inflation, interest rates, economic growth, and consumer confidence.

“I didn’t go to university to learn about any of these things, but as an independent practice owner today you need to know about it. If you’re going to set the pricing for your products, if you’re going to make decisions around pay scales for your team, commercial and business decisions, you need to know the framework within which you’re operating,” he shared.

The economic, as well as broader geopolitical climate, has also had an impact on consumer confidence with a knock-on effect on spend.

Hakim told OT: “I think those practice owners who have continued to do well are those who have taken the time to understand these things and do something about it. Because burying your head in the sand and hoping it will sort itself out is not a strategy. Hope is not a great strategy. We’ve got to do something about it.”

Local, creative, together

Earlier this year, at the Independents Day conference, Hakim discussed the challenges facing independent practices – particularly in terms of footfall and attracting customers. He suggested that independent practices could compete by focusing on being ‘hyper-local.’

Hakim told OT: “Independent practices are built on deep community relationships and community engagement. I think that’s something that small, agile, local, independent businesses can do a lot more readily than the larger players sometimes – because they are hyper-local.”

Examples from Hakim Group practices have included hosting wreath making events with patients, or summer fashion shows in collaboration with local independent retail shops, hairdressers, and coffee shops.

“I think that is the sort of creativity and individuality that you can really lean into when you’re a small independent in a local community, together with other independents in different niches like hairdressing, coffee shops, or fashion and retail,” he explained.

Key to this, is to truly understand the demographic and the challenges that other local businesses face – and then considering how to collaborate creatively.

Hakim commented: “When you are an independent, a lot of the local population want you to win – they want you to be successful. You are already pushing against an open door. You just need to give them some reasons to engage with you. If you put the time, effort, and energy into doing that, then that is where you get this deep community engagement.”

When you are an independent, a lot of the local population want you to win – they want you to be successful

Social media has seen a level of discourse regarding what it means to be an independent optical practice in recent months.

This is the wrong question to be asking, Hakim argues, suggesting that these labels add no value and instead posing that it is about adding “maximum value to the patient and the best, tailored, job for them possible without interference.”

“Independence isn’t about being alone," he said, adding: "I think independence is all about ethos. It is choice, values, mindset, putting the patient at the centre of that philosophy, and being single-minded in doing whatever you think is best for them.”

What practices in the Hakim Group family have is “smart support,” he shared, making life easier for the business owner and adding value to those around the practice, while still retaining control to respond to the individual needs of patients.

Hakim continued: “I think that is what it means to be independent. As long as you are making a difference, putting the interests of the patient at the centre of everything you do without any constraints in choice and ability to make the right decision for them. The right question is – how are you doing that? Rather than what are you calling yourself.”

Built on family values

Hakim has been open about the impact of his family in his personal and professional life – from providing him with support to open his first practice, to instilling the values that have been enfolded into the ethos of the Hakim Group itself.

With a young family of his own, OT asked what Hakim hoped to share with his family as they see him at work.

“Family is at the heart of everything for me, at home, as well as at work,” he reflected.

He explained: “My mother arrived in the UK leaving her family behind at the age of 14. She barely spoke the language, didn’t know anybody, and had no assets other than a passport, a suitcase with a few clothes and a beautiful heart.”

“My dad worked two jobs to make ends meet – he was a bus driver by day and the night shift was at Hakim’s Tandoori in Bolton together with his brothers, their wives and my mum, who worked a further three jobs on top of all that.

“My mother, together with my late father, made many sacrifices to give me and my siblings the opportunity to dream big. Our lives were full with one another, with an upbringing steeped in those same family values that are at the core of all things Hakim Group today, and the bedrock of this special culture that permeates throughout our business that everybody talks about and is so tangible,” he said.

For Hakim, it comes down to having a positive impact. He said: “I’m proud of my HG work family for making such a difference to the lives of many. I would want my young family to focus on that and the difference that we make.”

Reflecting on the evolution of the business and his goals for the future, Hakim told OT: “It’s been one hell of a journey. From humble beginnings to where we are today. What I would say to my young family is: don’t rest on your laurels. Go out and make the most of every single day and every opportunity. Keep dreaming – dream often, and dream big.”

“As we turn the page on a new chapter with Vision2030, I can honestly say that we are just getting warmed up, and the best is yet to come,” he said.