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facebook.com/opticianonline IN FOCUS Leightons relaunches joint venture partnership scheme Ryan Leighton tells Andrew McCarthy-McClean how local owners could advance the group’s offering Leightons Opticians and Hearing Care has relaunched its joint venture partnership (JVP) programme for eye care professionals aspiring to become practice owners. The regional group is currently made up of 30 practices that are owned by the Leighton family, plus four franchises and one JVP. Ryan Leighton, CEO of Leightons Opticians and Hearing Care, told Optician that the independent previously dabbled with franchises and JVPs but shifted its focus to optimising the existing offering. ‘For 10 years, we have been developing our clinical expertise and making sure we have great optometrists and dispensing opticians with incredible products. ‘Ultimately, why we are doing all of this is to be in our local communities, delivering what we consider to be the market leading clinical experience matched with dispensing products that are built to last but with a great story. ‘We’ve been doing that in such a way that we hope develops a commercially successful business,’ Leighton said, with the aim of creating ‘million pound practices.’ Since 2017, Leightons has developed its Hearing Care Partnership business that has grown to over 300 independents in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. ‘Our whole focus is about quality and having a very person-centred approach. It’s not going to have the aspirations as we might have on the hearing side of our business. This is going to be a slightly smaller, more nuanced, and more personalised joint venture operation that I think has a definite place in the market at this point in time,’ Leighton added. Leightons practitioners now have the option to own a practice ‘Now, why we are looking at joint venture again is partly because there is more headroom in the business to start to look at new things. It’s partly also driven by the market. ‘Specsavers has done JVP for many years and it’s served them well. Hakim Group has developed a brilliant model for independents and that coincides with our own JVP buyback in Marlow. ‘We started looking again at our own estate and thinking about where we can add value. We concluded that in Marlow, it would be really sensible for us to try to find an optometrist, dispensing optician or a combination to buy into that and help us locally to move it forward, both from a clinical point of view and from a product and dispensing point of view.’ The Leightons philosophy is to be a group of independent practices that serve communities, which means being flexible in its offering to meet local needs. Leighton said the business model was not designed to be one-sizefits-all and there was always scope to improve support for its 35 optical practices and 300 hearing care partners. Leighton acknowledges that while the Leightons brand was not one the size of Specsavers, nor was it trying to be that, it did have 100 years of knowhow behind it. FLEXIBLE MODEL Leighton envisions the group’s practices better serving its local communities because partners will have a stake in the business and more influence on operations. He said the business was built on people who deliver an experience to patients and he identified a special effect when practice owners are motivated to be part of the community. ‘You start to notice lots more positive, beneficial aspects coming from the longevity of an optometrist or dispensing optician being in the community. It’s a really powerful combination of that local practitioner delivering a service in a way that is right for them as well. This is where our model is not going to be fixed. It’s about making sure there is flex in the model that recognises it’s going to be different in some places. It could be around the product needs, some of the services that are provided or around price points. There are plenty of examples where there’s an amazing independent local brand, so why change it? Let’s keep that 6 OPTICIAN 27 September 2024 opticianonline.net

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IN FOCUS

Leightons relaunches joint venture partnership scheme

Ryan Leighton tells Andrew McCarthy-McClean how local owners could advance the group’s offering

Leightons Opticians and Hearing Care has relaunched its joint venture partnership (JVP) programme for eye care professionals aspiring to become practice owners.

The regional group is currently made up of 30 practices that are owned by the Leighton family, plus four franchises and one JVP.

Ryan Leighton, CEO of Leightons Opticians and Hearing Care, told Optician that the independent previously dabbled with franchises and JVPs but shifted its focus to optimising the existing offering.

‘For 10 years, we have been developing our clinical expertise and making sure we have great optometrists and dispensing opticians with incredible products.

‘Ultimately, why we are doing all of this is to be in our local communities, delivering what we consider to be the market leading clinical experience matched with dispensing products that are built to last but with a great story.

‘We’ve been doing that in such a way that we hope develops a commercially successful business,’ Leighton said, with the aim of creating ‘million pound practices.’

Since 2017, Leightons has developed its Hearing Care Partnership business that has grown to over 300 independents in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

‘Our whole focus is about quality and having a very person-centred approach. It’s not going to have the aspirations as we might have on the hearing side of our business. This is going to be a slightly smaller, more nuanced, and more personalised joint venture operation that I think has a definite place in the market at this point in time,’ Leighton added.

Leightons practitioners now have the option to own a practice

‘Now, why we are looking at joint venture again is partly because there is more headroom in the business to start to look at new things. It’s partly also driven by the market.

‘Specsavers has done JVP for many years and it’s served them well. Hakim Group has developed a brilliant model for independents and that coincides with our own JVP buyback in Marlow.

‘We started looking again at our own estate and thinking about where we can add value. We concluded that in Marlow, it would be really sensible for us to try to find an optometrist, dispensing optician or a combination to buy into that and help us locally to move it forward, both from a clinical point of view and from a product and dispensing point of view.’

The Leightons philosophy is to be a group of independent practices that serve communities, which means being flexible in its offering to meet local needs.

Leighton said the business model was not designed to be one-sizefits-all and there was always scope to improve support for its 35 optical practices and 300 hearing care partners.

Leighton acknowledges that while the Leightons brand was not one the size of Specsavers, nor was it trying to be that, it did have 100 years of knowhow behind it.

FLEXIBLE MODEL Leighton envisions the group’s practices better serving its local communities because partners will have a stake in the business and more influence on operations.

He said the business was built on people who deliver an experience to patients and he identified a special effect when practice owners are motivated to be part of the community.

‘You start to notice lots more positive, beneficial aspects coming from the longevity of an optometrist or dispensing optician being in the community. It’s a really powerful combination of that local practitioner delivering a service in a way that is right for them as well. This is where our model is not going to be fixed. It’s about making sure there is flex in the model that recognises it’s going to be different in some places. It could be around the product needs, some of the services that are provided or around price points. There are plenty of examples where there’s an amazing independent local brand, so why change it? Let’s keep that

6 OPTICIAN 27 September 2024

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