Member Article

Vision Express acquires 12 North West stores

Twelve North West optician stores have been acquired by national retailer Vision Express.

The outlets, which were bought from Crown Eyeglass Ltd, will become part of the Vision Express portfolio and bring the buyer’s total number of UK and Ireland stores to 331.

Eight of the properties currently trade as Crown Optical Centre, and Direkt Optik will transfer its services to nearby Vision Express outlets, while Vision Express hopes to retain Crown Eyeglass staff within its network.

The four other stores involved in the deal will continue to trade from their current locations under Vision Express branding.

The buyer also recently announced a 6% increase in operating profits, which it put down to its wide range of products and commitment to customer service.

Jonathan Lawson, chief executive for Vision Express, commented: “This is a very exciting investment for [us] and we are looking forward to working with our new teams and welcoming new customers to Vision Express.

“We hope to replicate some of the successes we have had in our existing high street stores and continue to provide more customers with an excellent eye care service, a wider range of products, as well as value for money.”

Head of human resources, Kate Clayton, added: “We extend a warm welcome to the teams and look forward to having them onboard, and dedicating our joint focus and commitment to a seamless customer transition and ongoing service experience.”

The deal includes three Crown Optical Centre stores in Chorley, Lytham and Cleveleys, where the existing staff will be retained at their current locations.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .