The marathon day started at 7.30am with the all-day Support Office Expo, which included multiple Partner Sinar presentations, and finished with the ‘Awards for Excellence’ dinner.There were a range of winners across seven categories during the night; however, the biggest surprise (and cheer) came when Dame Edna Everage made a special appearance.The Australian icon’s attendance was rather fitting given she is well-known for, among other things, her large cat eye glasses or ‘face furniture’ as she often describes her spectacles.Dame Edna presented a cheque for more than $125,000 on behalf of Specsavers to the evening’s charity partners, CanTeen Australia and CanTeen New Zealand.Earlier in the day global CEO Mr John Perkins gave the keynote address, while Aus/NZ managing director Mr Nigel Parker set the scene for the business in the year ahead. Parker also recapped Specsavers first 10 years in the Australian and New Zealand markets which has seen extraordinary growth to the point where store partners are now collectively exceeding the $860 million annual sales mark in Australia and $110 million in New Zealand.Throughout the day a series of annual business plan its were presented to the store partners by support office teams, including one from optometry director Mr Peter Larsen and optometry development manager Dr Ben Ashby. The pair provided a future view of clinical excellence, which was backed by a number of new initiatives.There were 20 Support Office stands on offer in the Expo, including three fully built model-stores with all the latest diagnostic and automated equipment, while fashion designer Collette Dinnigan helped out on the product team stands.Specsavers also recruited some outsider assistance to help things run smoothly during what was a packed schedule. Channel 9 Finance Editor Ross Greenwood hosted and facilitated the daytime sessions, while ‘Today Show’ co-anchor Lisa Wilkinson hosted the Awards for Excellence Dinner.Specsavers 10th Anniversary Celebration Gallery
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