President visits winning student DO
Adil with ABDO president, Kevin Gutsell
First-year dispensing optics student, Adil Ladha, is busy revising and preparing for his summer exams – but he wasn’t too busy to recently welcome ABDO president, Kevin Gutsell, to the practice in North West London where he works.
Kevin met Adil at Specsavers in Harrow as part of the Association’s practice visits initiative to mark 100 years of the profession – and to present him with a £100 John Lewis voucher after he won the Association’s 100% Optical on-stand competition for members.
Adil has been in optics since leaving university, working in Specsavers stores in the London area as well as gaining experience at other multiples. His career journey gathered pace after he successfully passed the Specsavers Cert 4 course as an optical assistant.
“Not satisfied with this and wanting to know more about lenses and frames, Adil was keen to take the opportunity and first steps to become a dispensing optician when this was offered by Specsavers in 2025,” said Kevin. “This has allowed him to share his increasing knowledge with team members, as well as gain more insights into problem solving.
“Adil admitted that he would like to look at opportunities to own his own Specsavers in the future, or move abroad to practise. Adil is certainly ambitious,” added Kevin.
Adil told DO Online: “It was a pleasure welcoming Kevin and spending time discussing the important work being done by ABDO. The visit was a great opportunity for the team, and we really valued the insights and engagement.
“I was absolutely delighted to hear that I had won the free draw at 100% Optical. It was a fantastic and much appreciated outcome for me.”