Specsavers setting its sights on £1bn sales

Specsavers, which delivered sales of£879 million in the year to February 28, 2007, is to ramp up its operations across the markets it operates in, including the UK, Ireland, Australia, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Spain. In the UK, Specsavers is also investing in its web site to drive online sales.

The company, which runs each of its stores as a joint venture between itself and the individual optician, will open the bulk of its new stores in Australia this year. It has opened 50 stores since January, and by the end of the year will open a further 100.

Specsavers founder Dame Mary Perkins, who set up the company with her husband Doug in 1984, said: “Our growth in terms of Australia and strengthening the markets we are already in will take us over£1 billion by next year.

“While this year may be tough in terms of the downturn in the economy, our offer of quality glasses at affordable prices will set us in good stead.”

Perkins added: “As each store is a partnership, every one has to be profitable. We have never closed a store because it wasn’t profitable, and that has been a key part of our growth.”

Specsavers will open a further 25 stores in the UK this year. It has about 700 in the UK and Ireland at present, and Perkins said that, by the end of next year, the retailer will have as many stores outside the UK as it does within it.

Last month, Specsavers set up its transactional web site and it launched a TV campaign this week to drive customers to the site. The new “Should have gone to Specsavers” push promotes its two-for-one deal on sunglasses, and when shoppers log on to the site, they can view the end of the ad.