As he calls it a day, CHARLES HORNOR recounts the moment he and Peter Larsen sent an email to Specsavers, triggering a wave of momentum that continues 16 years on.
One of the founding partners of Specsavers in Australia and New Zealand, Mr Charles Hornor, is leaving after 16 years – in search of downtime and new challenges.
The long-time communications director for Specsavers ANZ was jointly responsible for bringing the UK optometry brand to Australasia with optometrist Mr Peter Larsen in 2006 and has been an ever-present figure as the network has grown to more than 425 stores across the region.
“Looking back to day one, the cornerstones of Specsavers’ success were a clear vision of how to meet unmet patient and customer demand, gaining the investment to build unstoppable momentum, and the right people to deliver it all,” he recalls.
“With Doug and Mary Perkins’ extraordinary investment the market changed dramatically, with new technology, eyewear ranges and unheard-of prices helping to double the size of the market in just three years – and within the profession we took the chance to tell the story as it happened.”
While people often remember that many were against Specsavers, Hornor says the reality was many more were convinced of its approach.
“And they joined in their droves, enabling us to continue to build and build. Even now we see more than 40% of graduate optometrists joining Specsavers practices. They join knowing they will have access to fantastic professional development, in-clinic support, advanced equipment used with every patient and benchmark reports helping to compare and contrast against their peers.”
Hornor recalls the letter he wrote with Larsen in 2006 that would trigger Specsavers’ rapid Australian entrance. Co-founder Mr Doug Perkins – who Larsen previously worked for in one of the inaugural UK stores – was the recipient, and the pair mulled it over in their drafts folder.
At the time, Hornor and Larsen were operating the Optovision buying group, which they founded and launched in 2004 with more than 250 independents joining in the first six months. It had only been in operation for two years when the duo wrote to Perkins to explain the market opportunity.
Hornor says they highlighted the timing was right for an optometry-led group, to short-circuit “over-priced supply chains”, and deliver better prices to customers and better margins to optometrists. By setting up a supply agreement with Specsavers, they predicted it would give participating optometrists a chance to go toe-to-toe with the big players and provide more affordable care.
“We sat on that email for hours because we knew what would happen if we pressed the send button,” Hornor recalls.
“It led to us meeting with the senior Specsavers team in Hong Kong to look at the supply chain for this part of the world. The discussion led to opening a supply chain into Australia that would morph into the full-blown Specsavers retail franchise if successful.”
For Perkins, this would be his third attempt at entering Australia, after being “gazumped” in the early 2000s in two separate deals to buy Laubman & Pank and Precision Eyecare.
“But we presented an opportunity that couldn’t be thwarted, a way of getting the supply in, letting optometrists and their customers try it for themselves and enable individual practice owners to make their own decisions about teaming up with Specsavers,” Hornor says.
The supply agreement was signed, with subscribed independents agreeing to buy a percentage of their goods from Specsavers. A glazing and distribution centre was set up in Port Melbourne which was operational by March 2007. And with positive feedback only three months later at Sydney’s ODMA Fair, practice owners were asking about the Specsavers branded franchise.
“Eight months later, the store network launched in February 2008 with the famous 100 stores in 100 days rollout. The first 70 were [Optovision] independents who converted to Specsavers branding under a franchise agreement and another 30 practices were purchased. All were refitted at no cost through an incredible display of generosity from Doug and Mary, and the keys handed over to ongoing owners and new franchise partners,” Hornor says.
“The vast majority of stores since then have been greenfield under the JVP model which pairs an optometry partner with a dispensing partner in their own standalone business. Fast-forward to 2022 and Specsavers now has around 425 stores across ANZ.”
As Hornor departs Specsavers, he leaves knowing they made the right decision to send that 2006 letter. He says the effect was to catalyse a new optometry market in Australia and New Zealand that is now four times larger in total sales volume than in 2007, not to mention far more regular return rates for eye examinations.
He isn’t sure what bodes next but knows it’s time for a change: “Nothing goes on forever and sometimes you look at yourself and realise you need a fresh challenge – but even more importantly, you need a good break.”
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