Leightons Opticians and Hearing Care celebrates 95 years as a family business

Ryan Leighton holding the original 1910 gold Sovereign

A 1910 gold sovereign is at the heart of celebrations for Leightons, as it marks almost a century of providing high quality eye and hearing care for local communities in London, the South East and South West. The gold sovereign has a remarkable story – it was the first payment received by founder Henry Oscar Leighton from the very first patient, Mrs Stephens, on February 24, 1928.

Now 95 years on, the family business, which has a branch in Haywards Heath, is thriving. It is in its third generation after it was passed down to Mr Leighton’s son Richard, who later handed over the reins to his son - and current CEO - Ryan Leighton.

“The gold sovereign is a treasured part of the family business heritage,” said Ryan.

“My grandfather saw it as a good omen 95 years ago and decided to keep it as a memento, representing the start of our business almost a century ago – and it’s amazing to pick this simple gold sovereign up and take a moment to think about all that it has helped to create over the many years that we have been in business.”

Leightons’ first dispensing practice opened in Southampton on February 20 1928.

Six months later, a second practice was opened in Winchester.

Over the next 50 years, more practices opened across the South of England as the business expanded.

In 1996, Leightons began to expand in new ways through franchising and, later, through joint ventures and continues to grow carefully with independent optometry practices who share the same values.

In 2006, Leightons Hearing Care was launched with the aim of delivering high quality hearing care to complement the optical services.

Meanwhile, Leightons Opticians and Hearing Care continues to invest and develop its core 35 practices around a philosophy of personalised care - with market-leading diagnostic and testing equipment, alongside high quality independent and branded eyewear, and hearing aid technology.

“Everything we do at Leightons is about moving forward, innovating, evolving and constantly enhancing our service proposition to our patients,” said Rebecca Sharp, MD of Leightons and THCP.

“Appointments aren’t rushed, so we spend time with patients, providing a caring, clinical and person-centred experience.”

“We have dispensing opticians in every practice who are encouraged to dispense personalised products with great attention to detail and have full autonomy around product choice, working closely with the buying team.

“They have the freedom to choose to stock frame collections, styles and colours from designer houses and the world’s best independent eyewear brands from Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, France, Italy and Japan.”

As for the future? Ryan added: “It’s at milestones like these, we reflect on our history and take pride in our heritage.“It’s also a good opportunity to throw a line to the future and consider how we are going to create new ways to improve our patient experience and become more relevant for a changing world.

“So, next up, in 2028, Leightons will turn 100 - and we’re committed to making sure that we cross the line into our second century as a family business that continues to innovate around our purpose of helping more and more people to live life to the fullest.

“Our future vision is centred around providing a more holistic approach to optometry and audiology, with health and wellbeing at the core. This goes for our people and our customers.

“We will continue to embrace and connect technology with our humanised, person-centred approach to deliver higher levels of clinical care.

“And we will continue to find ever more sustainable and meaningful ways to provide our services in order that the Leightons business can continue to thrive for generations to come.”

To find out more about Leightons Opticians and Hearing Care, visit leightons.co.uk