End of summer, climate emergency, back to school, cost of living crisis, new PM ….

Going to the autumn with a sense of trepidation this year. Everything seems so uncertain and diferent to any time I can ever remember. Bills people can’t pay (domestic and business) and a government asleep at the wheel.

We hope that the bizarre leadership campaign has obscured a seriousness that is needed and that they listen to Martyn Lewis, Jack Monroe and Greta Thunberg.

Sharonjit (Sharon) has joined us at Eyeye and we are very excited about it. She was attracted by our ethical approach and unhurried, thorough eye test philosophy. I (Karl - owner and optometrist) am thrilled to have someone committed to taking up the challenge of doing things differently - not following the optical industry standard of being pressured into quicker testing times.

The industry standard eye test has a 20 minute slot - this is not optimal for the patient (you) or the optom (us). It’s rushed , things are not explained enough and questions are not answered well enough.

Talking through our process with Sharon reminds me how sophisticated our methodology is, I call it evidence based optometry. So, when I say we like to do things a certain way, it is because there is a good reason - a why - all orientated around giving better eyecare.

The optometry degree requires high A’level grades, the degree has lots of content and is very demanding, as is the following pre-registration year and professional exams - it’s so sad that all that work so often leads to people becoming eye testing robots, just trying to get to the end of their rammed clinic - ensuring they upsell enough to keep the manager of their back.

The Eyeye approach is team effort - it’s not dependent on any individual (including me) - from booking your appointment to getting new specs fitted, it’s a though out process aimed at doing optics better.

So, it’s exciting to get new young, blood into the team - she is looking forward to getting to know you all.

We moved to Harland Works a year ago and everyone asks us how it has gone. I detect a subtext from a lot of these queries along the lines of what were you thinking?

Division (actually Devonshire) Street has historically been a fairly high profile place to be in Sheffield, especially for independent retailers and so moving somewhere with limited footfall - John Street - looks risky to some.

Actually it has been brilliant, we feel part of a strong community at Harland Works - there are 20 other businesses there - furniture makers, a yoga studio, a theatre company, people who make violins and bows, product designers, a pottery etc etc …

Division St had become a bit dominated by takeaways in the 5yrs we had been there and obviously footfall from Feb 2020 was very limited! The closure of John Lewis was a big deal as well and frankly it wasn’t worth the very high rent, that the London landlord wasn’t up for reducing to reflect the change in character of the street.

Existing customers that we have seen to date in our new home seem happy with it and it looks vey similar inside, apart from the addition of a second consulting room. This allows us to see more people, do more contact lens work and train up / develop optometrists who want to work our way.

Partnering with the café is nice too, by offering a free drink for everyone who books an eye test - the Darkwoods coffee is very nice. We also partner with events as well.

So, we love it and hoping you like it too.