Specsavers co-founder and chair Mr Doug Perkins has been made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by King Charles as part of the 2025 Kings Birthday Honours List, for his services to business and trade.
The company was formed by Perkins and his wife Dame Mary in 1984 and is now considered the largest private eye and hearing care provider globally.
As well as an innovative approach to pricing and advertising – including the famous ‘Should’ve Gone to Specsavers’ strapline – Perkins applied a pioneering joint-venture partnership model to the optical industry.
Each Specsavers business, including those in Australia and New Zealand, is part-owned and managed by its own directors who are shareholders. They are supported by a comprehensive supply chain and specialists in various support offices, providing services such as marketing, accounting and IT.
In a statement, Specsavers said Perkins had always been involved with the day-to-day running of the business and is passionate about innovation and clinical excellence, including the rollout of OCT scanners in all Specsavers stores. In the UK, he also continues to champion the role optometrists and audiologists play in supporting the National Health Service (NHS) and delivering healthcare in the community.
“I can’t tell you how honoured I feel to receive this award for services to business as I have dedicated my entire career to helping people to see and hear more clearly,” he said.
“But more importantly, this is recognition for the 45,000 people around the world who work for Specsavers and for our ophthalmic surgery business Newmedica and their dedication to changing people’s lives through better sight and hearing.”
He said the company had achieved so much since its inception more than 40 years ago “from pretty humble beginnings”.
“And it’s really quite incredible that we are now offering our services to more than 48 million people, as far afield as Canada and New Zealand, and have a robust supply chain that spans the world from the UK and Europe to Asia Pacific,” he said.
“None of that could have been achieved without loyal, hardworking, visionary colleagues and partners. My wife Mary and I recognised from the very beginning, when we started the business together, that we needed to surround ourselves with people with the right skills to propel as forward if we were to achieve our goals of offering value for money and experts who truly care.”
Perkins’ career began after qualifying as an optometrist from Cardiff College of Advanced Technology in 1965 where he met Ms Mary Bebbington. Together they founded Bebbington and Perkins Opticians, which they sold in 1980 before moving to the island of Guernsey to be closer to Mary’s parents, who had retired there.
Perkins still goes into the Guernsey office every day and travels extensively to support business growth and the industry sector as a whole.
“I am just as passionate now as I ever was about the future of optometry, ophthalmology and audiology, as well as further opportunities and expansion of the Specsavers group, which includes our Newmedica eye hospitals in England,” he said.
“Improving access to expert eye and hearing care for everyone, regardless of their circumstances or where they live, has been and will continue to be our driving force and I have no intention of retiring as long as I can continue to be useful to that cause.”
The company was put into a family trust several years ago to ensure it would continue to operate under the Perkins stewardship and prevent it being sold into private equity. Family remains at the core of the business, with son Mr John Perkins as CEO and four of their seven grandchildren involved in the organisation.
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