Around Specsavers 1,000 store partners and support team members across ANZ gathered at the ICC in Sydney’s Darling Harbour for the 2023 Partner Seminar, in a jam-packed weekend featuring everything from business updates, networking opportunities, a Fred Hollows fundraising milestone and an appearance by Australian personalities Hamish Blake and Andy Lee.
Marking 15 years of business in Australia and New Zealand and five years of audiology, the 1 April event recognised the impact store partners have made in their local communities, including the prevention of avoidable blindness and screening more than 2.5 million people for signs of hearing loss.
The full-day event featured store partner panel discussions and business updates from Specsavers’ executive board members Mr Simon Hawkins, global strategy director, and Mr Peter Wright, group chief marketing officer. It was hosted by Mr Dean Gale, managing director of Phuel and included a session run by globally acclaimed futurologist Mr Magnus Lindkvist, and a Welcome to Country by Gadigal Elder, Uncle Allen Madden.
Specsavers ANZ managing director Mr Paul Bott said the event was a chance for Specsavers’ store partners from across Australia and New Zealand to get together to learn, network and celebrate the last few years of success.
“This year was the first time since 2019 that we were able to hold Partner Seminar, which was previously held biannually,” he said.
“It was fantastic to see old friends and colleagues reunited as well as initiate the hundreds of partners who have joined us since 2019. The energy and passion throughout the day filled me with so much excitement for the years ahead.”
During the day, there was a focus on learning and networking followed by an evening gala dinner where the recipients of the 2022 Specsavers Excellence Awards were announced. The 1,000 Partners and support team staff sat down for a formal dinner and dance hosted by Hamish and Andy.
“The Specsavers Excellence awards are our time to really celebrate the fantastic achievements within the partnership and the partners who are going above and beyond to look after their customers, their teams and their communities,” Bott said.
“There were so many fantastic examples of great partnerships and leaders that it was hard to narrow it down to finalists and overall winners. But in the end the winning stores’ passion, determination, dedication, resilience, and unrelenting vision shone through.”
The Excellence Awards recipients were:
- ANZ Best Place to Work – Specsavers Toowong, QLD
- ANZ Loved by Customers – Specsavers Mt Gambier, SA
- NZ Optics Store of the Year – Specsavers Dunedin
- AU Optics Store of the Year – Specsavers Strathpine
- NZ Audiology Business of the Year – Specsavers Whanganui & Palmerston North
- AU Audiology Business of the Year – Specsavers Werribee
This year’s Excellence Awards also included a raffle and auction which raised more than $120,000 for The Fred Hollows Foundation and was topped to $200,000 by Specsavers.
“We’re incredibly passionate about our partnership with The Fred Hollows Foundation in Australia and New Zealand and consider it an honour to have been alongside them as they’ve improved the eye health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Australia and restored and preserved sight in the Pacific. Our donation at Partnership Seminar allowed us to reach a milestone of $7 million to the foundation to date, which is something we are immensely proud of,” Bott added.
The Fred Hollows Foundation founding director, and Fred’s wife, Ms Gabi Hollows attended the event and in her donation acceptance speech said: “Fred would have been so proud of what this partnership has achieved. He’d be proud to see how hard we’ve worked to continue his legacy and how tirelessly we’ve campaigned to end avoidable blindness. Thank you for all you’ve done over the past 11 years.”
In celebration of the partnership to date, a broach was presented to each store partner which featured The Fred Hollows Foundation’s logo and the words ‘I’m carrying on Fred’s vision’. The broaches will also be sent to all Specsavers store team members across Australia and New Zealand in the coming weeks.
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