Leightons Opticians

About Leightons Opticians

Leightons Opticians is one of the largest optometry franchises in the country and aims to bring expert eye care to customers.

Established in 1928 and offering franchises since 1997, Leightons is one of the oldest and leading eye care providers in the UK, which also provides hearing care in many branches.

The family-owned business offers eye examinations, prescription glasses, contact lenses and advice on all aspects of vision and optical health. Hearing tests, prescription hearing aids and advice are also available in many branches, which employ some of the best eye and ear professionals in the country.

In 1928, HO Leighton established Leightons Opticians and Hearing Care, with its head office in Farnham, Surrey. Innovative business strategies enabled the company’s survival despite strong competition from the high street, including Boots Opticians, Specsavers and Vision Express.

The market for eye and ear care is huge and since 1997 when the business went into franchising it has grown exponentially. Today, there are more than 35 branches of Leightons Opticians in south east England and London - Leightons is currently the only optician accredited by the British Franchise Association.

How does the Leightons Opticians franchise model work?

 
To give potential business partners as much flexibility as possible, Leightons Opticians has three business opportunities on offer: a franchise, a joint venture and shared ownership. All three options give a partner the right to use the brand name, as well as all products and equipment.

Buying a franchise is the ‘old school’ format and is 100 per cent owned by the investor. A franchisee gets all the benefits of Leightons’ had office support, buying power and marketing, while keeping 100 per cent of the profits. A 100 per cent owned franchise means you might have to invest more at the start, but as you work hard to create success, the value of the enterprise will increase. 

The shared ownership model provides the mechanism and structure to buy into an already established business with a smaller initial investment, essentially meaning less capital and less risk - but still plenty of reward.

Finally, Leightons offers the option to create a joint venture. Here, investors tap into almost 90 years of experience in the sector, increased buying power and a central support function.

Joint venture investors get all the help they need in areas like finance, marketing, human resources, training and IT. Leightons Opticians will also assist in creating bolt-on revenue generating services such as hearing care.

The investor has the option to keep their own brand, switch to Leightons or combine the two names if this benefits both parties. The Leightons method ensures future partners can venture into a range of business opportunities that suits their capability as an entrepreneur, at the price that is right for them.

What locations or territories is Leightons Opticians looking to operate in?

Leightons is interested to hear from potential investors nationwide.

Why is a Leightons Opticians a good investment?

 
Firstly, the range of investment options available means entrepreneurs can choose a business opportunity that best suits their capabilities and future plans. 

Investing in the Leightons network means joining one of the leading eye and ear care providers. As an independent optical business model, with customer care at its core, Leightons works with leading industry experts to accelerate clinical expertise and invests in the most advanced methods of eye testing, including recommending an OCT scan as part of a regular eye test in every branch.

Did you know?

Leightons Opticians has outlets available across the UK

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Advanced methods of testing help to detect issues such as macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy in clients and can even identify glaucoma up to five years earlier than traditional testing methods.

Accordingly, Centre of Excellence branches are equipped with some of the latest optical technology and the option to specialise in macular degeneration, glaucoma, myopia and orthokeratology is actively encouraged in Leightons business partners.

Building on nearly 90 years in the industry, Leightons invests a lot into its business, hiring only the best professionals and introducing business innovations wherever possible.

Where in the UK is the Leightons Opticians franchise based?

The Leightons head office and franchise team is based in Farnham, Surrey.

What support and training do Leightons Opticians franchisees receive?

 
Leightons treats every business partner as part of its family and the company believes everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential through the learning and development courses available - from foundation to advanced modules - held regularly at Leightons central support location in Surrey and run by its own expert staff.

The extensive and comprehensive training programme at the Leightons Academy encompasses all matters to do with running an opticians, from sales techniques and human resources to marketing and business operations.

Leightons’ head office support team will also help advertise the local branch in the franchisee’s trading territory and has an ongoing support programme for investors.

What are the Leightons Opticians franchise terms of agreement and renewal?

The franchise term is normally five or 10 years.

How in demand are optometry and audiology services right now?

People are very much focused on living life to the full in today’s world and this means living to the best of their capabilities health-wise.

Everyone’s quality of life is better when they can hear and see the world fully and healthcare services such as eye and ear care will always be of the utmost importance, both for adults and children.

Government recommendations are for everyone in the UK to have an eye examination once every two years unless advised otherwise by their optometrist.

Research carried out by The Eyecare Trust shows that 85 per cent of UK adults admit to having problems with their vision and recommends children aged under nine and people aged 70 and over have eye examinations annually.

The Eyecare Trust goes further to say that 20 million Brits risk avoidable sight loss because they fail to have regular sight tests. Meanwhile, 11 million people - or around one in six - suffer from hearing loss across the UK.

Action On Hearing Loss says that many more people could benefit from hearing aids than are currently doing so, with only around 40 per cent of people who need hearing aids having them.

Leightons believes in delivering first class customer service, which means listening more carefully, empathising with any issues, passing on the wealth of its knowledge and giving the best service possible. Opticians and audiologists are sorely needed in society and could do even more to encourage people to book regular sight and hearing tests.

How can I get started on setting up my own Leightons Opticians business?

Fill out your details on this page. A member of Leightons’ head office team will then contact you for a no obligation conversation to determine your level of interest and send you a brochure about the business opportunities available.