“We feel thankful, humbled and hugely motivated by our win”

How does it feel to win the AOP Awards 2020 Practice of the Year accolade?

We’re over the moon to have won this award. To have made it through as a finalist was testament to the team here – the wonderful work they do, their commitment to offering the very best in eye care and their tireless support for the local community. But the icing on the cake is to have won this top spot thanks to the backing of our customers and the community who voted for us. That really speaks volumes and makes us very proud.

Why do you think you won the award and what made your practice stand out?

I think it’s the way we’re driven by our customers and our ultimate goal: to offer the world’s best eye test here in Derby. We back that up with high clinical staffing levels and a brilliant track record for great customer feedback.

As a practice, what has been your biggest achievement in the past year?

Apart from winning this award, and one or two others, I think I’d have to say our biggest achievement in the past year has been becoming accredited as a healthy living optician as it really pushes the boundaries for optometry and broadens the scope of our role as health professionals.

We get great satisfaction from helping our customers and being part of the community

What are the practice’s three best attributes, and why?

Our three best attributes as a practice are our family culture, our talented staff and our top-quality technology.

Our family culture means every customer and staff member feels at home and supports our strong culture of learning. Our talented team is committed to excellent customer care and service. Our investment in hospital-quality equipment helps our optometrists provide detailed eye health checks and enables them to pick up eye problems, in some cases before there are any symptoms present, giving our customers an excellent clinical service

What’s the best thing about working in a practice environment?

We get great satisfaction from helping our customers and being part of the community, as well as working among supportive colleagues.

What advice would you give to those thinking about opening their own practice?

Our top advice would be to network and learn from others’ experiences. Our journey with Specsavers has been fantastic as we’ve benefitted from being business owners ourselves, while also having the recognition of an international brand.

What is the secret to a successful practice?

We put our own success down to hard work and listening to our customers.