Speaker 4 (00:00.718)
Hello everyone and welcome to the My Local Marketer podcast. I'm Maria and today is a very special episode because I'm speaking with three of the directors at Specsavers in Reading. So first up we have Hashin Hirani who is retail director and dispensing optician at Specsavers. Hashin, welcome to the podcast, how are you? Yeah, really good, thank you. It's great to be here in Specsavers today. So.

Yeah, I'm really good at How are you?

Speaker 2 (00:25.612)
He is, yeah.

Specsavers is a well-known brand. What makes the Redding branch unique, would you say?

So while Specsavers is a household name, each store is locally operated and owned. So in many ways, we're an independent business. What makes our Reading branch unique is the scale of our service. We're one of the largest Specsavers stores in the country. We run up to 10 clinics a day, which means we are highly accessible and we can see patients very quickly, often on the same day. We're also one of the oldest Specsavers in the country. What attracted me to this store in particular was Ravi, who's one of the longest standing

partners in the Specsavers group, his wealth of experience and his knowledge. So it was fantastic to join the Reading branch.

So what makes the Reading branch unique is all Specsavers branches are actually unique. How do you focus, would you say, on the local community then to make it unique?

Speaker 2 (01:19.352)
So most Specsavers stores do operate very similar services, eye test and audiology being the two primary ones. However, here in Reading Specsavers, we do offer additional services like post-cataract tests, DVLA tests. We do specialist optical appliances such as swimming goggles, sports goggles. We also have an on-site lab which can offer same day services in the event of an emergency. So let's just say you've your glasses, you come in.

do eye testing on the same day and manufacture a pair of glosses just to keep you going.

Wow, it sounds like a very varied range of options that you have. How many spec savers are there in Redding?

So there are three in total. This is the main one in Broad Street. Me and Randeep are primary directors of this store, whereas Ravi and Suneeta are involved in the Lower Early branch and in Woodley as well. Sunita obviously handles all the audiology in those branches and she offers hearing tests and wax removals and Ravi does all of the same services that we provide in Reading Broad Street in the Lower Early and the Woodley branch.

think that's so important because not only then do each of you have a local focus, which is really important for business to get to know the customers that you have in the particular branches and the needs, but you've also, because you have that collaboration across all three, you sort of know what's happening in each of them, which will help to inform your services, I imagine. What challenges have you faced, would you say, over the years for this one in particular, for Edington? I don't know if COVID actually really featured because people would still need to get their eyes tested.

Speaker 2 (02:41.88)
Definitely.

Speaker 2 (02:52.654)
Unfortunately, I wasn't with the Reading branch during the whole COVID period. I was based in a store down in the South Coast. The COVID period did hit not only this particular store, but the whole market of optics and audiology quite significantly. However, we were in a prime position where the NHS allowed us to stay open for primary and emergency eye care, and that helped alleviate any pressure that was at the hospital. And we relieved a lot of stress and pressure on the NHS staff members there.

So we kept our doors open. We helped identify any emergency situations and anyone that was suffering from vision loss during that period. Shortly after COVID, that is when I joined Reading Specsavers. Now, one of the biggest challenges that I saw that was a problem in this particular branch was a lack of eye care services downstairs. So unless you were fit and able,

to receive primary eye care treatment, you would have to go up the stairs. So one of our main missions is when I joined Reading Specsavers, we spoke to Randeep, the existing directors, and we reformulated the entire store by gutting it out, putting new state of the art equipment in, such as OCT, and other equipment, and we made the...

store more customer friendly in a sense that we can see patients downstairs for primary eye care treatments and we increased our capacity for the ever-growing demographic of Reading. So we added an extra three test rooms in total or two new hearing booths for audiology. Everything that we've done is just to make sure we are leaders in a ever competitive brand.

As long as we can try and cater for the masses, whether or not you're one years old or 100 plus, our doors are always open for you seven days a week. We try and operate our longest opening hours possible just so we can accommodate those that are working or those that physically can't make it in at certain times in the state we've got a dependent bringing them in. We've listened to our patients, any feedback that's been given to us.

Speaker 2 (05:15.266)
We took that into consideration during the whole refit process and the refurbishments. So all in all, we try to do whatever we can to serve the community and to make sure primary eye care and hearing services are available for the masses.

brilliant. It sounds as if you're really in tune with the customers. How do you do that? Do you just ask them and have the feedback from conversations with them? How do you keep in touch with what their needs are and what they want?

So it's a multiple approach. We have got online surveys which patients can fill out in their own comfort of their own home where if they do want to share anything that might not typically come up in in-person conversation, they've got the freedom to write about it. And we spend hours and hours a day reading those customer feedbacks, seeing what we can do to improve our customer services, see what additional services we can offer in store as well.

but we're also present on the shop floor and in the clinic. So we do get to speak to patients directly face to face and we get to hear their concerns. We get to hear what their wants are, what the needs and what the preferences are. And then we can just adapt on a day-to-day basis just so we are doing the best that we possibly can.

once you get them talking, I bet they're quite happy to tell you what they think.

Speaker 2 (06:33.454)
Yeah, 100 % and I think Reading is just such a rich place full of culture and life. It is really fulfilling just talking to the public and seeing what their opinions are and seeing what we can do to accommodate them.

That next line seems to something else I wanted to ask you, which I know, speaking about eye care and audiology, we'll hear from Sunita and Randi Plato. He said the demographic of Reading is changing. How has it changed, would you say, over the years?

With the introduction of the Elizabeth Line, a lot of people moving out from London are relocating to Reading. We're seeing loads and loads of new patients of all walks of life. A lot of young families are now relocating to Reading because the housing prices are a lot more competitive than what they are elsewhere in the country. I think our new patient database is roughly around 20%. We grow our new patient database year on year.

Wow, I suppose that is in connection with the growth of reading.

Exactly that, yeah. So when I've worked in other Specsavers stores and other opticians, our new patient database would only grow about 5 % to 7 % every year, whereas Reading, we're seeing masses.

Speaker 4 (07:45.58)
I was going to ask how you market your services then, but it sounds as if it's probably, you know, if people are moving from a different area, they are seeking out the services. But still, I'll ask you anyway, how do you market the services for Specsavers in the local community?

So we're lucky in a sense that Specsavers do operate not only a national marketing brand but a global marketing brand as well. But we do like to reach out with the community. We do get in touch with schools, GPs, get involved in local events such as the pancake race, social media such as Instagram, Facebook. In addition to that, we also engage by word of mouth, just showing the quality of our services with the quality of products.

That also helps bring in new custom database.

It's a multi-pronged approach really, is what you've got there. Now, is there anything that we've not touched upon that you would like to leave our listeners with today?

Yeah, so we are open seven days a week. We are open for any member of the public. One of our biggest focuses at the moment is pediatric eye care. Now, from my experience, when I first joined Optics 17 years ago, a lot of our pediatric patients, they were long sighted. Since the introduction of screen times, especially with COVID, where everyone was trapped inside looking at iPads, mobile phones.

Speaker 2 (09:07.468)
television screens, we've noticed that a lot of our pediatric customer database has become short-sighted and it's very important that we can educate the families and the kids of some of the good that they can do with their eyes. we do offer artificial treatments such as myopia management glasses. However, the World Health Organization has dictated that every child should spend two to three hours outdoors in a large open space.

And that helps remind the brain that the world is a bigger space than the three meter by three meter room that we spend most of our time in. It's also very important to take breaks when you're using screens. So a general rule of thumb is every 20 minutes, just for 20 seconds, it's encouraged to look at something 20 meters away. And again, that is the bare minimum at which any child should be doing. Whereas when we do look at videos and TikToks and when we're gaming as well,

It's designed in such a way that we don't take any eye breaks and we get sucked into it for like hours and hours on end. And that is what is also contributing to our short-sightedness in our younger generation.

Thank you. I think that's a really important message and we're going to learn more about eye care now with Randeep.

Speaker 4 (10:29.102)
Hello, Randeep, and welcome to the My Local Marketer podcast. Thank you. So, your full name, I'll just say it for the record, is Randeep Bal, and you are Ophthalmic Director. So, what does an Ophthalmic Director do?

Hi Maria, it's lovely to be here.

Speaker 3 (10:41.238)
Yeah, that's right.

So primarily my role is to still work in the business. I'm an optometrist by trade. I graduated about 10 years ago from Aston University. I've been working with Specsavers pretty much ever since. But now alongside that, my role is to look after the other optoms, run the clinics, and just look after the day-to-day running of the business really.

Basically, you just look after people's eyesight, would you say that's fair?

Yeah, so primarily our role is to look after your eye health. So a lot of people think when they come for an eye test it's just for glasses, but that's just one small part of what we do.

I must admit, yeah, it's totally different to what I thought because I came for an eye test recently, which was an experience because I've never been for an eye test in my life. I didn't need it as a child, so you're never taken. And I always saw the films and thought, oh, I just need to go in and read some letters and numbers off a board. It has come along. I did not know there were so many pieces of equipment to do with that.

Speaker 3 (11:30.316)
It's come a long way now, yeah.

Speaker 3 (11:35.214)
Yeah, yeah. So like you probably remember, checking your eyesight was probably the last five minutes of the test. So most of it is we take a detailed history of your eye health, your general health. We'll look at the front and the back of your eye. Physically, we also use technology, use scans of the back of your eye as well. So you can pick up a lot, not just to do with your eyesight, but your general health and look after your long-term health that way.

And that is something that I did not expect. So like you said, we've been able to detect tumors and anything like that. You said with eye, there was so many things you can pick up just with the eye.

Yeah, I'd say that's probably more rare, but definitely something you can pick up. But you know, just standard things like you can pick up things like high blood pressure if someone's at risk of being diabetic. A lot of eye conditions, you don't tend to have symptoms until it's already done some damage to your eyesight. So it's really important to come for regular sight tests because we can pick things up before they become an issue.

think the key thing is that when people have used both eyes, so one of them is probably doing most of the effort if one of them is struggling you so you don't notice.

Exactly, yeah. So if you have an issue with one eye, a lot of people have a problem in their right eye, for example, but because obviously you always have both eyes open, you don't necessarily notice that you're having a problem with that eye. So for example, if you use an eye condition like glaucoma as an example. So glaucoma is a condition where the pressure in your eye will slowly damage the nerve in your eye and cause irreversible sight loss. You get no symptoms, no pain, and because you're only losing small parts of your vision at a time,

Speaker 3 (13:03.788)
your other eyes filling in all the time and you won't necessarily notice that until one day you bump into something and realize it's quite a big chunk of your vision missing and by that point it's too late. So coming to regular eye tests we can use machines like OCT scans, we can have a look at the back of your eye and you know get people in care because glaucoma for example is very easily controlled and managed if it's spotted early. So that's just one example but yeah it's definitely long-term chronic eye conditions you don't usually get symptoms early on.

So how often should people go for an eye test? Because like I said, that was the first eye test I've ever had. But like for the dentist, you're told right from when you were a child, you need to go every six months, but that's never really mentioned with regards to eye health. But it's so important nowadays, as Hashin was pointing out with the internet and how we are just constantly staring at screens the whole time.

Yeah, so for most people, I would say an eye test every two years if they're not having any problems is fine. For children, we want to see them a bit sooner. So ideally you should come for your first eye test age four, age five, if you're not having any problems. By that point, they'll usually have already had a screening at school as well. So if there are any issues at the school, think, you know, this child might require an eye test, they'll usually be sent to us anyway. And for kids, it's usually every year unless we think they don't need to come that frequently.

But we tailor it to each individual patient. So if the patient is at risk of a certain condition or has a certain family history of something, we would probably call them in sooner than two years. But for most of the general population, I'd say every two years, if there's no problems. If they are experiencing symptoms, obviously don't wait for the two years and come in as soon as you feel like there's an issue.

Now, I think that leads nicely into misconceptions because when I was in with you and you said, I could probably have corrective glasses. And one of the first questions I had was, does that mean that my eyesight will be weaker if I have glasses? And that is, you said, a common misconception, isn't it?

Speaker 3 (14:54.84)
That's something we hear all the time. A lot of people are afraid that if they start wearing glasses that their eyesight will become lazy or reliant on the glasses. The glasses don't have any impact on how your eyesight progresses or changes. So that's purely to do with how your eye grows. for example, it actually is probably the opposite. So for children up until the age of seven and eight, they're in a plastic period where the connection between their eye and the brain is still being formed.

So if child who needs glasses at that point doesn't wear glasses, they're at risk of developing what we call a lazy eye and that can't be fixed as an adult. So it's actually really important to wear glasses as a child if you need them. And as adults, if you came in with headaches, for example, because you're long sighted, you need glasses. If you chose not to wear the glasses, your eyesight wouldn't get worse. Just as if you chose to wear the glasses, it wouldn't get worse. Obviously, if you don't wear the glasses, you continue to get the headaches, but...

Glasses don't have any impact on how your eyesight changes when you're an adult.

And to come to get an eye test, it's very cost effective, isn't it?

Yeah, definitely. So prices of Specsavers have always been consistent. We haven't changed those in years. We don't plan to change those. We pride ourselves on providing affordable eye care and hair care for everyone. We do a lot of NHS funded eye tests, so everyone up to the age of 16 gets a free eye test. If you're in full-time education, even longer. Over 60 is the same as well. So a lot of general population usually has their eye tests covered. But yeah, we're very proud of the fact that we provide affordable eye care.

Speaker 4 (16:24.046)
Yeah, he's only what, 25 pounds?

Yeah, 25 pounds. And then if you want to get an additional test called an OCT scan, that's only five pounds. And that's a hospital grade piece of equipment that we can use to look at the different layers of the retina, pick up eye conditions a lot earlier.

That's amazing. mean, like I said, going to the dentist, as we were saying before, you sit there in the chair, but coming here, mean, you... So many pieces of technology that you sort of put through, so I think that's definitely worth the...

value. Yeah, very different to when I was getting eye tests as a kid and you had to wear a pair of clunky glasses. So yeah, now we have digital phoropters. So we have a machine that changes the lenses for you, for your eyes. So it's a lot more accurate, a lot less human error, a lot quicker. Yeah. So the technology has definitely come a long way and in optics is changing all the time.

Is it changing over time out of interest? Are they continuing to develop? I don't know where they could develop. It seems like everything's covered already.

Speaker 3 (17:16.238)
Yeah, I mean, I'm sure there's going to be a lot of advances in the next couple of decades and site tests won't be the same. So optometry as a whole is moving more towards eye health and looking after populations eyes in terms of the health of the eyes. Checking glasses prescriptions, I wouldn't be surprised if in the future that does become automated. I don't think that's going to be anytime soon, but we're talking, you know, 20, 30 years from now. But our role has always been mainly to look at eye health. And I think that's where the profession is heading.

In general, what advice do you have for people looking after their eyes in daily life? I know you suggested to me wearing sunglasses, which is actually something I'd not really thought about.

Yeah, so I think there's a couple of things you can do. So one of them is definitely UV protection. So what I mentioned to you last time. So UV is something that has a cumulative effect on your eyes. So from the moment you're born, you're absorbing UV in your eyes. Conditions like cataract, which everyone gets at some point with old age, you can slow down the progress of that. Basically, if you wear sunglasses regularly, UV also plays a part in a lot of other eye conditions like macular degeneration, generally having a healthy diet.

having your greens, that's really good for the back of your eyes as well. So anything with dark green leaves, I know everyone always thinks of carrots, but you know, spinach, broccoli and stuff like that's really good for you as well. And screen time, I would say trying to spend more time outdoors and less time indoors, looking at close distances. That's probably the one that has become the biggest highlight at the moment, I would say in optics. I think by 2050 is predicted that half the world's population will be short-sighted just because we're all staring.

that he's sending me is away from our face at the moment looking at our phones.

Speaker 4 (18:54.894)
It's disconcerting but it's so true. mean, you're sort of on your laptop doing work and then you have a break and in your break you're looking at your phone. When you asked me my screen time, it's like, I dread to think because for my relaxing, I watch the TV. So I go from my laptop or my phone to looking at the TV in the evening. So basically, the whole time I'm awake apart from traveling. So yeah, taking more breaks, I think, as Hashin was saying.

Yeah, screen time is obviously a major one, but even if you read a lot, the main thing is looking close. So we should be spending a couple of hours outdoors every day, which sounds normal. But when you think about how your normal work day is, how much time do we all spend outside?

How do you stay adaptable and responsive, would you say, to the changes in technology and what the customers need or, like we said, the changing, reading demographic needs?

Yeah. So, I mean, we invest really heavily in training and professional development for the optometrists. So recently, about two years ago, we had the entire shop refitted. mostly equipment is brand new. We've added more test rooms. We added more ground floor test rooms to be more accessible for the public. Specsavers in general is quite big on professional development. So, Specsavers holds the largest UK optical conference in the country. So, coming up in September, actually, and that's open to any optometrists, whether they work for Specsavers or not.

So like I said earlier, there's a lot of developments happening. You have to constantly stay on top of it. We're constantly doing courses, learning about new pieces of research that have come out. For example, with short-sightedness, we were mentioning earlier with myopia, we offer something called myopia management. So you can actually get glasses and contact lenses now that can slow down short-sightedness. So that's something that's only become big in the last five years or so. So things like that, we're constantly going to events. We actually have to do a certain amount of learning over three years.

Speaker 3 (20:40.578)
to stay on top of everything and keep our license to practice.

Well, it's good to know that there is a lot of training behind what you do so people can rest assured they're in good hands when they come. Yeah. Now, is there anything you'd like to leave our listeners with?

Definitely.

Speaker 3 (20:53.422)
Yeah, I think main thing is that we're not just about glasses and primarily we're about looking after your eye health and your general health as well. So there's a lot you can pick up just from coming from an eye test, not just to do with your eyes, but your general health. And if you come into your eye test regularly, you're more likely to be in better shape as you get older.

Now, as Hashin said at the very start, as well as eyesight, there's also audio, and we're going to hear from Sunita on that.

Speaker 4 (21:21.902)
Okay, so now we have Sunita Khanna. Thank you for going on the podcast. Thank you. As we were just discussing, Specsavers, I did not know this, but you have a range of audiology services. I mean, from my naive point of view, I just thought you come, you get your hearing tested and that's it, but it's much more complicated than that, isn't it?

Thank for having me.

Speaker 1 (21:40.61)
Definitely. Specsavers has been offering hearing services for over 20 years, but recently we've just offered a whole load of other services. So at this branch, we do two types of hearing tests. So if you think, you know, I may have something going on, but I just want it checked. We do hearing screeners. They're just short tests. You can either do online or come in and we can do that for you. Or if you definitely think there's something going on.

We can do a full hearing test with our audiologists and then discuss any options. As well as that, we offer ear wax removal. We use microsuction, which is like a gentle Hoover and very quick. Because hospitals and GP surgeries don't offer the service anymore. So we're very busy here with wax removal. And we also do hearing protection. So anything from earplugs to

custom as well as off the shelf. And then we also sell other accessories that alongside your hearing aids like TV streamers, mics, things like that. So there's a whole range of services, not just testing.

I did not know you did wax removal. I think it was a few years ago. I had wax in my ear and I went to the doctors thinking what do I do? And their advice was just to put some olive oil in the ear. And I tried that and it just felt worse to be honest. So, that's really...

Yeah, because it gets to a point where you know, I have to have professional to have a look at it and that's what the service we offer.

Speaker 4 (23:15.672)
How often should people come for a hearing test? As you said, is it just when their hearing's going? I've never had one. I don't know if you're meant to have it at certain points throughout your life.

Well, no, I think it's mainly when you notice any changes in hearing. And that could be when you're in groups of people with background noise and then you think, I didn't quite catch that. Always get it checked out. We only check over 18s. We don't do children. And when you're over 50, a certain age, then it's always best to get it checked every two years because it can happen quite quickly. And it's...

people around you notice more than yourself. So you get into a habit of saying sorry, what did you say, or pardon, and it's people around you that will notice, oh yes, there is a bit of a hearing loss there, and that's when you need to address it.

And that I find really interesting because yes, I've known people obviously with hearing problems. There's a disconnection where you know they've got a problem but they don't want to go and get tested.

No, there's still a stigma attached. you know, all these years it's been, if you were hearing age, you're old. And, you know, people don't want to, but things have changed now. Like with eyes, people are constantly on headphones, listening to music. hear children, they have things in their ears and the music is so loud, you can hear it across the room. So it's things like that that you do notice more.

Speaker 4 (24:24.44)
Yes, I think that's it.

Speaker 1 (24:45.602)
be honest, our demographic of patients is getting younger and younger now. When I first started audiology, it was anyone over 65. Now we've said anyone over 50. And in fact, I do see 20, 30-year-olds quite a lot as well, which is a shame really.

Why is that and how can people look after their hearing would you say?

Well, again, it's just giving breaks in the noise. it's the duration of how long you're, say you've got your headphones in and the music is loud. Give yourself a break, know, listen to it for a little while, take it off, give yourself a break. And if you're attending any venues, use earplugs and hearing protection. Or if your job involves it, wear some form of hearing protection, motorcyclists, all that, they're all very loud sounds.

that eventually can damage your ears. I remember when I was young, we used to go to music venues, come out and you think for a couple of seconds, I can't hear, but it was a fun night, so you didn't care. was two, three seconds. But then after that, as you get older, that's when things start happening.

But like you said, even when we were younger, it's always been there. There's always been children and, know, teenagers, young people with loud music has always been there, at least for our generations. Why is it different now, would you say? Is it just because of the screens? People are just constantly having their headphones in listening.

Speaker 1 (26:13.236)
It is and don't forget, majority are working from home. So you've got your headphones on there as well. And it is, it's purely that screen time again.

I saw the connection with eyesight with how I look, but yes, I hadn't really considered the connection with audio as well.

think again it is just reducing and limiting how much you hear and what decibels of sound you hear as well so keeping that to a minimum.

Well, so should we be listening to?

Normally it's 20-25 decibels is average, anything above that and then the duration kicks in so you really need to limit that. So even when you're out in the street and there's roadworks going on sometimes that can be really loud as well and it is just a case of protecting your ears from further damage.

Speaker 4 (27:04.372)
Is there a pattern in reading would you say, that's just across the country?

I think where the main pattern is that we see when people are with families, say during Christmas holidays or school holidays, and they can't hear their families or they struggle to hear, then we get more people coming in for the hearing checks. So also when music festivals are on like they are now, and after that they realize that they can't hear very well, again, let's go and get our hearing checked.

So really there is some sort of event or something where people are around others, they're talking and they highlight there's a problem. I suppose when you are at home and on your laptop, you can just turn the volume up, you don't really notice it so much, it's only when you're around other people.

I hear that all the time. Children are bringing their parents in that live on their own and they're like, we've popped over and the television is so loud. But the person watching it doesn't realise they think that's an acceptable level. And it's when someone else comes in and says, do you realise your television is so loud or your music is too loud? And that's when you need to get it addressed.

think that's important to have the social element, which I know we've lost a little bit in the modern society. Is there anything you'd like to leave our listeners with, Suneeta?

Speaker 1 (28:19.79)
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (28:24.27)
I'd just like to say do think about your ears because they are important and once the damage is done it's very difficult. Don't leave it until you're lot older to get them checked out. And we do offer different types of hearing tests so it doesn't mean you have to come in for an hour and sit in our booths and have one. We do quick tests and there's online tests. Do get that done.

think it's great that it's so accessible and there is an online version. Absolutely. Suneeta, thank you so much and thank you today as well to Hashin and Randeep. It's been brilliant to be here today.

Thank you.