A NEW opticians will be opening in Thame next month bringing local jobs to the town.
Specsavers is due to open at the end of February – taking up the former ProCook premises at 109 High Street. Under current government guidance Specsavers stores remain open for all eye and hearing needs during lockdown.
Run as a joint-venture partnership, the store will be headed up by Neil Perry and Nishita Chauhan who are both familiar faces to Specsavers and boast some 32 years’ optical experience between them. Neil and Nishita are looking for five people to join them as part of this exciting venture, offering the very best in optical and audiology care.
‘We’re really excited to be opening in Thame and would like people from the local community to join us,’ comments Neil, who will lead the retail side of the business. ‘We’re recruiting for a range of positions from optical assistants to dispensing opticians and graduate optometrists too, so get in touch if you are keen to work in a busy health care and retail environment. For some of the roles experience is preferable but not essential.’
‘We are committed to providing the highest standard of optometry, audiology and customer service to our customers. As providers of an essential health service, despite the lockdown, we will be open for all eye care and hearing needs, playing our part in relieving some of the strain on our partners in the NHS,’ adds Nishita who has spent the last 12 years at Dunstable Specsavers as lead optometrist.
‘We want to reassure everyone that we will be adhering to the strict government guidelines to protect the safety and wellbeing of our team and our customers – something that both Neil and I are used to having worked through lockdowns at our current Specsavers stores.’
The new store will benefit from the latest in optical equipment which includes an Optical Coherence Technology (OCT) machine, usually found in hospital eye departments, which produces a detailed structural scan of the eye. A sound-proofed audiology room will also be available for hearing appointments.
‘The store will have two test rooms up and running when we open, with another two available when demand requires them. We will offer a wide choice of contact lenses and more than 1,000 different frame styles will be on display for customers to choose from,’ adds Neil.
In line with NHS recommendations, Specsavers colleagues use personal protective equipment (PPE) throughout the stores, wear face masks and other PPE during tests, and all testing equipment and frames are thoroughly sanitised before and after each use.
Once the store is open appointments will need to be made in advance and there will also be restrictions on the number of customers allowed in store at any one time, strict social distancing rules and, where possible, card instead of cash payments.
