Specsavers co-founder and chair awarded CBE

Doug Perkins was recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours List for services to business and trade

3 min read

Specsavers

17 June 2025

Doug Perkins, co-founder and chair of Specsavers, has been made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to business and trade.

Perkins was named in the King’s Birthday Honours List on 13 June.

Specsavers was founded in 1984 by Perkins and his wife, Dame Mary Perkins, and has since grown into the largest private eye and hearing care provider in the world.

Operating a joint-venture partnership model, there are now more than 1000 Specsavers businesses in the UK.

Doug Perkins CBE commented: “I can’t tell you how honoured I feel to receive this award for services to business as I have dedicated my entire career to helping people to see and hear more clearly.”

Perkins qualified as an optometrist in 1965 from Cardiff College of Advanced Technology, where he met Mary [Bebbington]. Together they founded Bebbington and Perkins Opticians, which they sold in 1980 before moving to Guernsey.

Perkins dedicated the honour to the 45,000 people around the world who work for Specsavers and Newmedica, “and their dedication to changing people’s lives through better sight and hearing.”

He added: “Together, we have achieved so much since we started this business more than 40 years ago from pretty humble beginnings and it’s really quite incredible that we are now offering our services to more than 48 million people, as far afield as Canada and New Zealand, and have a robust supply chain that spans the world from the UK and Europe to Asia Pacific. None of that could have been achieved without loyal, hardworking, visionary colleagues and partners.”

I can’t tell you how honoured I feel to receive this award for services to business as I have dedicated my entire career to helping people to see and hear more clearly

Doug Perkins, co-founder and chair of Specsavers

Specsavers was placed into a family trust in 2023, ensuring it cannot be sold to private equity. The couple’s son, John Perkins, is CEO of the business, and four of their seven grandchildren are involved in the company.

Commenting on his commitment to the profession, Perkins said: “I am just as passionate now as I ever was about the future of optometry, ophthalmology and audiology, as well as further opportunities and expansion of the Specsavers group, which includes our Newmedica eye hospitals in England.”

He continued: “Improving access to expert eye and hearing care for everyone, regardless of their circumstances or where they live, has been and will continue to be our driving force and I have no intention of retiring as long as I can continue to be useful to that cause.”

Perkins was born in 1943, the son of a police sergeant and a farmer’s daughter. Described as “industrious” from a young age, with jobs including errand boy, laundry delivery driver and assistant at a local chemist, Perkins credits this experience as instilling in him the value of hard work and a passion for healthcare and retail.