28 August 2025
Optometry practices across the country have been recognised for patient services, connection to the community, and investment in technology.
The Business Awards UK recognised excellence in eight categories for the 2025 Optical Industry and Eyecare Awards.
Eyetech Opticians, in Street, was awarded Optical Business of the Year. The practice has been providing eye care services in Somerset since 1986, and earlier this year the team introduced a new dry eye clinic.
Eva Vorosvaczki, director at Eyetech Opticians, said: “We’re incredibly honoured to be recognised as Optical Business of the Year. This achievement truly reflects our dedication in practice to providing exceptional eye care and a personalised service to each and every patient in our community.”
“Our patients and our community are at the heart of everything we do, and we hope to continue to invest in high standards of eye care for the people of Street and beyond,” she continued.
Our patients and our community are at the heart of everything we do
Bellamy Eyecare received the Best Family Business title in the 2025 awards.
Optometrists Alan and Tracey Bellamy have provided eye care to communities in Irthlingborough and Leicester for more than 22 years.
Tracey Bellamy told OT: “We’re thrilled to be recognised as Best Family Business. For us, being family-run isn’t just about who owns the practice – it's about treating every patient with the same care we’d give our own family. Many of our clients have trusted us for decades, often across generations, and that loyalty means the world.”
“This award is really a reflection of our amazing time, whose dedication and kindness make Bellamy Eyecare what it is,” she said.
For us, being family-run isn’t just about who owns the practice – it's about treating every patient with the same care we’d give our own family
Cooper & Thompson Opticians opened its doors in central Dartmouth in February 2025, led by director and independent prescribing optometrist, Jenny Cooper, and joint-business owner and manager, Lucy Thompson.
Cooper told OT: “We are beyond excited to have been recognised for an optical industry award.”
“Receiving the award is a wonderful confirmation of how much we have achieved since opening our doors to the public earlier this year. Opening a brand-new practice was such a huge leap, and the support from the local community, and this award, is an affirmation of our achievement,” she said.
Receiving the award is a wonderful confirmation of how much we have achieved since opening our doors to the public earlier this year
Eden Eyecare, in Cumbria, received the Independent Opticians of the Year accolade from the Business Awards UK.
The practice was established in 2015 by independent prescribing optometrist Iain Macnish and dispensing optician and stylist, Zoë Anderson.
The practice runs a specialist dry eye clinic, as well as a styling consultation service developed by Anderson, who has studied personal styling with The British College of London.
Anderson said: “Winning this title marks a proud moment in our decade-long journey of delivering outstanding customer care and clinical expertise.”
She explained: “From pioneering treatments like the county’s first dry eye specialist clinic and IPL therapy, to offering personalised styling experiences that help our clients find eyewear suited to their lifestyle, we’re honoured to have earned national recognition while continuing to serve and support our local community.”
Reflecting on the award, which comes as the practice celebrates its 10-year anniversary, Anderson told OT: “We are solely one independent practice and me and my business partner, Iain, work on the business, and in the business, all the time. We’re very hands-on.”
Rather than expanding, the co-owners identified the value in providing an expert, niche service: “We felt we could give an absolutely 10-star service.”
Anderson shared: “We put everything into our practice. We’re not big, but what we do, we try to do it as best as we can every day. Listening to the patients, we have improved the business with every year. I would say now, at 10 years, I can finally look at it and think ‘it’s where we wanted it to be.’”
HaydenSwan Eyecare in Haywards Heath received the Sustainability Award, with Claire Hayden, co-founder of HaydenSwan Eyecare, telling OT: “From the very beginning, our aim has been to build a practice that not only delivers outstanding eye care but also makes responsible choices for the environment and our community.”
She added: “Sustainability runs through everything we do – from the collections we select and the suppliers we partner with, to the way we run our practice day-to-day.”
The practice has a number of sustainability initiatives, including pledging 5% of net profits towards the work of the Ocean Conservation Trust, and aiming to become carbon negative (removing more CO2 from the atmosphere than the business produces) by 2028.
The business participates in the National Spectacle Recycling Scheme by RecycLine, a contact lens recycling programme with TerraCycle, and organises regular beach cleans in Brighton.
Hayden said: “This award is a wonderful acknowledgement of those efforts, but it’s also a reminder that there is always more we can do. We’re committed to continuing this journey, finding new ways to reduce our impact and inspire positive change within the optical industry.”
Safarian & Simon Opticians, based in St. John’s Wood High Street, London, received the Client Satisfaction Award.
Eye care company, Peep Club, was awarded for Innovation in Eye Care, while Newmedica received an award for Excellence in Eye Care Services.
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