PizzaExpress is a British multinational restaurant group, owned by a group of bondholders. It has over 470 restaurants across the United Kingdom and 100 overseas in Europe, Hong Kong, China, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Saudi Arabia. It was founded in 1965 by Peter Boizot. In July 2020, the business was taken over by its bondholders under a debt-for-equity swap with previous owner Hony Capital. In November 2020, Hony Capital left the business and the group restructure was completed, helping to cut the casual dining chain's debt by more than £400 million.
Vision Express is a British company established in 1988 that sells spectacles and contact lenses.
Specsavers Optical Group Ltd is a British multinational optical retail chain, which operates mainly in the UK, Ireland, Australasia and the Nordic countries. The chain offers optometry and optician services for eyesight testing and sells glasses, sunglasses, and contact lenses. It also sells hearing aids. In the United Kingdom in 2012 it had the largest single market share of the four major opticians, with 42% of the market.
Acuvue is a brand of disposable contact lenses made in Jacksonville Florida and Limerick-based Vistakon, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson (J&J).
Capita plc, commonly known as Capita, is an international business process outsourcing and professional services company headquartered in London.
Pearle Vision is an American chain of eye care stores. It is one of the largest franchised optical retailers in North America. The company was acquired by Luxottica, an Italian eyewear company, in 2004. As of December 31, 2018, Pearle Vision operated 110 corporate stores and had 419 franchises throughout North America.
The General Optical Council (GOC) is an organisation in the United Kingdom which maintains a register of opticians and regulates the services provided by dispensing opticians and optometrists. The stated function of the GOC is "to protect the public and promote high standards of professional conduct and education amongst opticians".
Essilor International is a French-based international ophthalmic optics company that designs, manufactures and markets lenses to correct or protect eyesight. Its headquarters is in Charenton-le-Pont, France.
Dollond & Aitchison was one of the oldest chains of retail opticians in the United Kingdom, having been established in 1750. The business was absorbed into Boots Opticians in 2009 and stores were rebranded under the Boots Opticians name, completed in 2015.
Boots Opticians Ltd. operates a chain of ophthalmic and dispensing optician stores in the United Kingdom. The company is a subsidiary of Walgreens Boots Alliance (58%) and De Rigo (42%).
Oticon is a hearing aid manufacturer based in Copenhagen, Denmark. The company is a subsidiary of the Demant Group. It was founded in 1904 by Hans Demant, whose wife was hearing impaired. The company claims to be the world's second-largest manufacturer of hearing aids, and uses a management style known as "spaghetti organization" introduced by Lars Kolind under his leadership between 1988 and 1998.
Healthcare in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter, with England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales each having their own systems of publicly funded healthcare, funded by and accountable to separate governments and parliaments, together with smaller private sector and voluntary provision. As a result of each country having different policies and priorities, a variety of differences have developed between these systems since devolution.
Allan Leighton is a British businessman, chairman of The Co-operative Group since February 2015, former CEO of Asda, former chief executive of Pandora, and former non-executive chairman of the Royal Mail. He is also the co-owner of Brackley Town.
Boots UK Limited, trading as Boots, is a British health and beauty retailer and pharmacy chain in the United Kingdom and other countries and territories including Ireland, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Thailand and Indonesia.
Optical Express is a retail optical services brand and laser eye surgery specialist in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company also provides refractive treatments such as lens surgery and cataract surgery.
Central England Co-operative is a regional consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom, based in Lichfield and which trades from over 400 sites across the English Midlands and East Anglia. The business is owned and democratically controlled by its members who can stand for election to the board and who also share in the society's profits. A proportion of the profits of the business are also invested in local community groups through its community dividend grants programme and its more than 60 member classes.
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. is an American-British-Swiss holding company headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois that owns the retail pharmacy chains Walgreens and Boots, as well as several pharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution companies. The company was formed on December 31, 2014, after Walgreens purchased the 55% stake in Alliance Boots that it did not already own. The total price of the acquisition was $4.9 billion in cash and 144.3 million common shares with fair value of $10.7 billion. Walgreens had previously purchased 45% of the company for $4.0 billion and 83.4 million common shares in August 2012 with an option to purchase the remaining shares within three years. Walgreens became a subsidiary of the newly created company after the transactions were completed. As of 2022, Walgreens Boots Alliance is ranked #18 on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.
Hassan's Optician Co. is a retail/wholesale company of eyewear, hearing aid and jewellery primarily based in Kuwait with branches in Oman, Lebanon, UK and Dubai.
The British Contact Lens Association is an educational and scientific membership organisation formed in 1977.
Darren Kennedy is an Irish television presenter, serial entrepreneur and columnist from Dublin, now based between New York, Los Angeles and London. He has worked for RTÉ, ITV, BBC, Channel 5 and the Disney Channel. He is the creator & co-founder of the skin and hair care brand Kennedy & Co.
