New Specsavers premises officially opened in Grantham
An opticians has officially opened its new store in the town centre, which offers more space for staff and patients.
Specsavers Grantham held a ceremony to officially open its new, larger, premises in the Isaac Newton Shopping Centre just a few doors down from its previous home of 28 years.
The Specsavers team were joined by deputy mayor of Grantham, Councillor Mark Whittington, who cut the ribbon to officially open the store this morning (Monday).
Coun Whittington said: “As a long-standing customer of Specsavers I was delighted to be able to open their new store in Grantham and to meet some of the fabulous team who work there.
"It’s great to see a local business doing so well and I was extremely impressed by their new facilities. I wish them every success for the future."
The company says that the move to a bigger unit marks a "substantial investment", and more than doubles the footprint of the previous store.
Colin Ducker, Grantham store director alongside Bijal Ladva, said: “I’m immensely proud, and relieved because it's been such a long journey."
He explained that more than five more members had been added to the team at Grantham, and that they were still actively recruiting, with Colin stressing the importance of local recruitment.
The staff area has also been expanded, with Colin describing it as "a nice place to relax, with natural light".
It took around six to eight weeks to fit the shop, which opened to the public last Thursday.
Colin said: "Since going live on Thursday, we’ve had an absolutely cracking response."
The new store has seven testing rooms, with state-of-the-art equipment installed throughout, including an Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) machine.
This machine allows the optometrist to take a 3D image of the back of your eye to help spot serious eye conditions, including glaucoma up to four years earlier.
There are also two accessible audiology rooms on the ground floor, which Colin called "a big bonus element", as well as a new contact lens space.
There is also a dedicated call centre to help patient enquiries relating to both eyes and ears. This also helps the domiciliary side of the business, which allows people to have their ears and eyes tested at home.