Specsavers opens 1,000th practice

Rugby star Ugo Monye, third from left, joined co-founder Dame Mary Perkins (cutting the ribbon) at the opening of the 1,000th store in Harpenden, Hertfordshire.

Specsavers has opened its 1,000th practice in the UK and Ireland, 40 years after opening the doors of the first. 

Co-founder Dame Mary Perkins was joined by rugby star and former Strictly Come Dancing contestant Ugo Monye at the opening of the Harpenden store in Hertfordshire. They welcomed town mayor Councillor Fiona Gaskell.

The firm invested £350,000 in the outlet. It features four optical testing rooms, a dual audiology room and offers optical coherence tomography (OCT).

Director Lewis Carroll said: “Creating this practice has been such a fulfilling journey. Having the pleasure to watch residents go by while we added our touches to the practice has given me a real sense of what the town is all about.”

Dame Mary said: “If you had told me when we opened our first practice back in 1984 that we would be opening our 1,000th practice 40 years later, I wouldn’t have believed it. 

“Our aim has always been to provide high-quality and affordable eye and hearing care to all, and I’m pleased that this new practice, run by experienced joint venture partners, will make our services accessible to even more people.”

Audiology director Vivek Joshi previously worked at Lister Hospital in Stevenage, which he said “gave me a first-hand look into the lives of the Hertfordshire residents”.