Specsavers was founded in Guernsey 1984 by Doug and Mary Perkins and is now the largest privately owned opticians in the world. Together with their three children they still run the company today. The Perkins opened their first Specsavers, value-for-money, quality eyecare opticians in Guernsey and Bristol, followed shortly by stores in Plymouth, Swansea and Bath.

They aimed to offer a wide range of stylish, fashionable glasses at affordable prices for everyone. They wanted the company to be seen as trustworthy an optician as a local independent but with the huge buying power of a national company that meant savings could be passed on to the customer. The company has been expanding ever since.

There are now more than 17,000 staff based throughout Specsavers estate. The company now has more than 1,314 stores across the Channel Islands, UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Spain, Australia and New Zealand. It has also successfully entered the hearing aid market and is now the largest retail dispenser of digital hearing aids in the Uk, offering a hearing service from 142 locations. Annual turnover for the Specsavers Group is forecast to reach a record £1.05 billion for the financial year 2008/9.

Now one in three people who wear glasses in the UK buy them from Specsavers Opticians with eight and a half million glasses were sold during 2008. Specsavers is the largest retail provider of home delivery contact lenses in Europe and one of the top two retail suppliers of continuous wear lenses in the world through it’s Lensmail service.

Specsavers has been named the most trusted brand of opticians by British consumers for the eighth consecutive year. It received 41% of the votes - nearly four times that of nearest high street rivals - in the respected Reader’s Digest European Trusted Brands 2008 survey.