10 December 2025
Lens manufacturer Norville will close on Tuesday 19 December.
The company announced the business update on LinkedIn, posting: “Following the completion of a strategic review of Norville, the difficult decision has been taken to close the business on Tuesday 19 December.”
In a statement shared with OT, a spokesperson for Inspecs Group explained that following completion of the Norville strategic review, “the board has explored a number of opportunities for the business with its advisers and has taken the difficult decision to close the business.”
OT asked how employees and any outstanding orders would be affected but received no further information.
Inspecs’ interim results, published in September, revealed that for the six months to 30 June 2025, Norville generated revenue of £2.4m, and an underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBIDTA) loss of £0.7m.
In the LinkedIn announcement, Norville shared: “We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to all employees, customers, and suppliers who have supported us over the past 125 years. Your loyalty has meant a great deal to use, and we wish you all the very best for the future.”
Responses to the update on social media described it as “sad news,” reflecting on the challenges facing independent laboratories. Optical professionals shared their experiences of working in, or engaging with, Norville over the years.
In a post on social media, Eluned Creighton-Sims, independent clinical educator at Excelsior Optical Education, recognised the skills of the Norville team, sharing: “For years, this lab took on jobs that required patience, dedication, and deep technical expertise – the kind of work that delivers life-changing outcomes for patients they will never meet. Their teams pushed techniques forward, solved difficult problems, and set standards that have influenced the wider industry far beyond their own walls.”
For those affected by the closure of the business, she added: “Your impact doesn’t disappear because the doors close.”
Your impact doesn’t disappear because the doors close
Frank Norville, the former chairman of the Norville Group, is now the owner of the independent glazing laboratory, Ellivron Optical.
In a statement on the Ellivron Optical website, he shared that the business is on-hand to offer assistance: “not only to ease your sourcing frustration, but to ensure there is employment hope.”
He recognised that some individuals will have spent a lifetime in the ophthalmic prescription lenses sector, adding: “Where in fact ophthalmic manufacturing is a fantastic trade in which so many are content to spend their entire working lives.”
“I am mindful we are now the only optical laboratory operating [in] North Gloucestershire, but I am also conscious of the increasing challenges faced by small businesses,” he added.
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