Sights on growth as Viewpoint targets market that’s ignored

IN 1985, when 22-year-old optometrist Trevor Rowley set up his own business, he took a big gamble.

York-based Viewpoint Opticians was focused entirely on the sale of contact lenses – but at that time the market was in its very early days.

“We were probably the first in the UK, certainly the first I know about, that was 100 per cent contact lenses, which was quite unique and quite a challenge at the time. That was a time when contact lenses were very, very niche.” But, said Mr Rowley, the business “took off like a rocket”.

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Today, Viewpoint Opticians, which also now offers spectacles, has two sites across York and Hull, employs around 20 people and turns over £1.7m. It has around 11,000 active customers.

And, Mr Rowley is behind a separate company, Optix Software, which started in the late 1990s and is now seeing rapid growth.

Initially born out of a desire to develop software for use in Viewpoint’s retail practices, it covers all areas of running an optical business, from bookings to clinical data management, and from orders to collecting direct debits.

“We wanted a system that would link multiple sites in real time. That’s the biggest key differentiator between our product and everyone else’s,” said Mr Rowley. This means that a customer could walk into any branch of a said business and their records would be accessible.

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Optix Software, which employs nearly 50 people, has attracted custom from across the country and saw its turnover increase by 80 per cent to nearly £2m this year. Also based in York, its client base includes opticians across the UK, including Bayfields Opticians in Yorkshire and Scottish-based Black & Lizars. Mr Rowley added that he is in “serious conversations” with one of the national optician firms.

“Optix Software is growing exponentially at the moment. Opticians all talk amongst themselves and that has worked phenomenally to our advantage.”

The business is recruiting, said Mr Rowley. He expects to create another 10 jobs in the next year.

Meanwhile, Viewpoint moved to a new, larger site on Feasegate, York, a year ago – an investment of just under £1m was made to fit out the premises.

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“It is unashamedly, and without any question, certainly the most upmarket and well equipped optical business I know of in the UK”, remarked Mr Rowley.

The site includes state-of-the-art equipment including an optical coherent tomographer, which provides 3D images of the back of the eye with a colour graph and other diagnostic information.

Viewpoint targets the top end of the optical market – a sector of the market Mr Rowley says is otherwise being ignored.

“The whole market is almost gravitating towards mediocrity. It’s all about commonality and getting cheap and cheerful service.

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“I believe there’s a whole sector of people who don’t want that, who want to feel they are getting something better, they want the ultimate care, and value their sight a bit more than just going for the cheap and cheerful.”

Mr Rowley also set up a business in the mid 1990s based on the sale of contact lense products online, called Postoptix, which was sold in 2008 to a company called Getoptics.

Mr Rowley, who owns both Viewpoint Opticians and Optix Software, declined to discuss profit figures, but said: “Viewpoint has been profitable since day one.

“Profits this year will undoubtedly take a dip because we’ve spent a huge amount of money moving, but that isn’t unexpected.”

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Meanwhile, Optix Software was loss-making until two years ago, due to substantial investment in the business.

Making contact in the early days

WHEN Trevor Rowley started running his own optical business in the mid 1980s, disposable contact lenses didn’t exist.

People were wearing them until they lost them or they fell apart. That was the way the market was then,” he said.

“We started saying to people you should replace lenses every six months, that was revolutionary at the time.”

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But Mr Rowley spoke of the difficulties he faced in selling the idea that it was healthier for your eyes to replace contact lenses on a regular basis.

“I can remember people saying, ‘what’s wrong with your lenses?’ ‘If I come to you you’re saying I need to replace them every six months, but over the road, they are saying theirs last two years’.”

“Now no-one questions the idea of changing lenses every month or week or day,” added Mr Rowley.

Viewpoint, which Mr Rowley says receives most of its custom through word of mouth, has a forum for all its customers to communicate with each other in real time.

The company also holds an annual user group meeting for its customers.