Company history

Business is founded by Colin Birkman after leaving Specsavers which he was a part of since 2009

Time spent acquiring additional local & regional Opticians as clients, as the business started off making glasses only for Opticians initially

First big investment into new manufacturering equipment. This increased quality & allowed us to meet the growing volume of work. The equipment also gave us an upper hand against competitors as our machine had features that were in demand

Members of the public start to find out about Precision Optics Eyewear and begin to enquire about us manufacturing eyewear for them directly. First direct to consumer orders are taken as a trial alongside manufacturing for Opticians 

Direct to consumer orders for members of the public increase significantly & consistently. Focus & attention started to split between both segments of the business

The decision was made to cease working with & manufacturing for Opticians, so that the business could focus on the growing database of new & returning public clientel. Full focus starts on direct to consumer model as we saw a gap in the local market which was not being met as well as we thought it could be

Investment was made to expand the business to create a larger showroom area and to enhance the overall client experience. Product ranges were increased to test various models for our clients 

Covid-19 Pandemic hit and forced the closure of the showroom after only a few months of opening

A zero contact model was developed to help members of the community. This was the only source of income for the business. This was a challenging time for everyone 

The showroom was slowly reopened with new safety measures along with certain restrictions. Here we tried to get back to the feeling of pre Pandemic ways

The showroom picks up and begins to become very popular. Mid 2023 saw the company begin to reach it's maximum capacity of what could be done with only one person running it

The decision was made to start to build a team within the business. Our first recruitment campaign launched aswell as purchasing our first company vehicle which would be used for collections & deliveries of orders & repairs

Kim joins the team to facilitate the manufacturing of orders, along with the running of the lab & collecting/delivering orders. The business & demand for our services continued to grow

During a meeting it is discussed about the next steps of the business due to it getting busier. This was a crucial step and a really big decision, one that if we didn't make the right choice, at the right time, it may have gone a different way. 2 options were available, to either recruit for someone to help with sales, or someone to assist with client aftercare/assistance & administration 

Kerry joins the team. This was to facilitate the need for looking after the loyal clients that we had. Ensuring that we respected what we already had was more important than pushing for new business before we felt ready. We knew that if we could create a strong client aftercare & assistance process, that when we did start to recruit for someone in sales, that the aftercare, assistance and administrative support was there, ready and prepared 

We began to vertically integrate the business. Here we took control of some of the main parts of the business such as frames and merchandise (frames, cases, cloths, lens cleaner). We sourced and created contacts directly with the factories manufacturing these products. This eliminated the middle man (supplier/third parties), meaning that we now have factories manufacturing goods for us, who we now work directly with

Second company vehicle purchased in preparation for the next phase of the business. This vehicle was purchased to facilitate our model of extending our showroom services in a mobile version by going directly to our clients at their home

Donna joined the team. This is to facilitate the mobile home visit services. Donna starts to see client's alongside Colin in the showroom for training 

The home visit mobile service was trialed officially for 2 weeks with Colin & Donna on the road. Kim was manufacturing the products whilst Kerry was assisting clients & following up with their aftercare 

After a review & team chat about the mobile home visit services, the whole model was tweaked & then launched alongside the showroom. Meaning a fully operational showroom is working alongside a fully operational mobile home visit services

There is still more to come, lots to do & fun to be had along the way. Thank you for following our story & journey.

The Precision Optics Eyewear team.