Specsavers director 'seeing double'

Directors at Cottingham Specsavers have announced a £250,000 investment into the region’s eye and hearing health, after the town centre store opened its doors this weekend.

The new Specsavers store on Kings Street welcomed its first customers on Saturday 11th June, following an opening celebration with the new team, which included ribbon cutting, live entertainment and street-performances.

The investment includes the install of cutting-edge equipment, which the directors say will provide higher-grade optical and audiology technology for customers.

Equipment will include a new 3D scanning OCT (optical coherence tomography) machine, which will give the store’s specialists the ability to undertake Specsavers’ most advanced eye test to date.

According to the store’s director David Proudfoot – who also oversees the Kingswood and Hull City Centre stores - Cottingham’s launch will enable its optometrists and audiologists to provide greater support for customers. He predicts the optimised services will help to support the overall eye and hearing health of the town’s residents.

David said: ‘We're delighted to have launched our new premises, which will enable us to further expand our offering and give an even better service to the community.

‘With more space available, everything under one roof, and the best team on-hand, we’re confident Cottingham’s residents will benefit from improved eye and hearing health services.

‘Across our three Hull and East Riding stores, we have four directors, who are supported by dozens of knowledgeable and experienced team members. We’ve taken the team’s successes at our Kingswood store and applied it here in Cottingham.

‘We’re also refitting and refreshing the Hull City Centre store after taking it over this year, which will bring it in line with the experience at Cottingham and Kingswood. It will ensure the highest clinical standards are in place for our customers across Hull and East Riding.’

Cottingham’s new optometrists say the new £50,000 OCT machine will deliver meaningful benefits for the community’s eye care. It can detect retinal detachments, macular holes, age-related macular degeneration, post cataract complications and many other serious eye conditions.

An OCT scan helps us to view the health of people’s eyes in greater detail than ever before, by allowing us to see what’s going on beneath the surface.

Dave continued: ‘With OCT, we can spot many underlying, sight-threatening conditions, which generally don’t have any symptoms until they start to have an impact on your vision. An OCT scan can even help detect glaucoma up to four years earlier than traditional methods.

‘It was an honour that the community and our special guests could be there to celebrate the opening at the weekend to see the store and technology in-person. We can’t wait for all our customers to do the same, whilst getting the very best service from our brand-new home.’

The investment has created nearly a dozen jobs in the town, but the store’s director wants even more applicants to come forward for roles in the future.