Optical weekly · 30 October
The optical week.
A Friday note from Seamus. Thirty-three stories from the week to 30 October. The ones closest to a multi-site estate come first. The rest of the trade follows.
First
Closest to the estate
Two stories will matter most to anyone running practices this week. The AOP has hit back at the GOC’s proposals to let sight tests be split across different people, times and places, and the Budget has raised the small business rate relief threshold and the minimum wage. These six sit nearest the work.
01
AOP says GOC sight-test proposals raise “fundamental concerns”.
The GOC wants to allow sight tests to be split between different people, times and locations, with trained non-registrants doing some tasks under a registrant’s oversight. In its consultation response, backed by a survey of more than 660 practitioners, the AOP warns this could add risk to patient care and commercial pressure on practitioners, and increase registrants’ responsibilities without the authority or safeguards to match.
29 Oct 2026Optometry Today
02
Budget lifts small business rate relief and the minimum wage.
In his first Budget on 28 October, Chancellor John Healey raised the small business rate relief threshold for retail, hospitality and leisure from £12,000 to £18,000 and announced a National Minimum Wage increase. Both will feed straight into independent practice cost bases.
29 Oct 2026Optometry Today
03
Boots Opticians launches SmallSaints in 515 stores.
The children’s range brings AllSaints styling to kids’ frames, with designs that mirror adult silhouettes, and widens choice on the family frame wall.
28 Oct 2026ABDO
04
Myers La Roche completes three UK practice sales.
The optical practice broker announced sales in Hertfordshire (a large, highly profitable practice), South Manchester (bought by a local optometrist) and West London (bought by a first-time buyer). It named no practices or buyers.
Around 27 Oct 2026LinkedIn
05
Minimum cataract waits are harming patients, SpaMedica report says.
Around half of England’s ICBs now impose minimum waits for cataract surgery, some as long as 16 weeks, and 85% of patients reported their vision getting worse while they waited.
29 Oct 2026Optometry Today
06
De Montfort’s first optometry students arrive.
DMU’s new Master’s in optometry in Leicester took 40 students from 156 applicants. Course leaders say they hope it will improve access to eye care in rural and urban communities across the East Midlands. That’s good news for the regional recruitment pipeline.
29 Oct 2026Optometry Today
Then
The wider optical week
Retail moves
07
Specsavers founders receive Lifetime Contribution Award.
Doug and Dame Mary Perkins were honoured at the Retail Gazette Awards, and Carina Hummel, UK and ROI optics MD, was Highly Commended in Women in Leadership.
Around 29 Oct 2026Optician Online
08
Scrivens crowns junior eyewear design winner.
An 11-year-old won Scrivens Opticians & Hearing Care’s space-themed eyewear design competition and collected her prizes at the Halesowen branch.
Around 29 Oct 2026Optician Online
09
French insurer Alan builds its own optician network.
The health insurer opened applications on 27 October for opticians to join a network serving its more than 1 million members. It’s another example of payers moving into optical distribution in France.
25 Oct 2026Eyewear Intelligence
10
MO Global heads for Central America and the Caribbean.
The Spanish group behind Mó and Multiópticas, which has more than 550 points of sale in Spain, has signed a master-franchise deal with Disresa to open in Guatemala and the Dominican Republic in early 2027, with four more countries to follow. It also opened its first Portuguese store in Porto on 8 October.
25 Oct 2026Eyewear IntelligenceelEconomista
11
Rottler reopens Optic Neiseke in Selm.
The German family-owned chain took over the 47-year-old independent on 1 October. It kept the existing team and reopened the refurbished branch under Rottler’s name on 29 October.
29 Oct 2026Rottler
12
S&P upgrades EssilorLuxottica.
S&P Global Ratings has raised the group’s long-term credit ratings, with a stable outlook.
25 Oct 2026Eyewear Intelligence
13
Ocuco adds North American enterprise sales.
Mike Sullivan has joined as Enterprise Account Executive to sell the Acuitas 3 practice management platform to optical groups.
25 Oct 2026Eyewear Intelligence
14
RxSight strengthens its commercial team.
Taryn Conway becomes Chief Commercial Officer and Frank Shields joins as EVP of Sales and Commercial Strategy, with the aim of speeding up adoption of the Light Adjustable Lens.
25 Oct 2026Eyewear Intelligence
Product and trade shows
15
Ray-Ban launches a Marvel collection.
The sunglasses take inspiration from Spider-Man, Doctor Doom and Captain America, and include a kids’ Mini Aviator with a red metal frame and blue lenses.
29 Oct 202620/20 Europe
16
Italia Independent adds a more accessible price tier.
The AW26 collection adds six optical and four sun styles in 40 variations, and its new lower price tier is aimed at a younger, broader audience.
29 Oct 202620/20 Europe
17
Balenciaga unveils Nova and Cosmo.
The new sun styles are a cat-eye with stepped BB-logo temples and a rounded rectangle with a sculpted Nano BB hinge detail, and both feature in the AW26 campaign.
29 Oct 202620/20 Europe
18
Robert Downey Jr joins Snap’s Specs.
The actor becomes honorary Chief Customer Experience Officer for Snap’s augmented-reality glasses brand as the smart-glasses marketing race heats up.
25 Oct 2026Eyewear Intelligence
19
OSA plans a UK dry eye survey and previews 100% Optical 2027.
At its autumn members’ meeting in London, the Optical Suppliers Association heard regulatory updates on MHRA registration and UDI, and announced dry eye education at 100% Optical, possible regional roadshows and a national dry eye practice survey. CloserStill also set out its plans for the 2027 show.
28 Oct 2026ABDO
20
AOP locum conference tackles referrals and complaints.
Sixty locum optometrists met in London for sessions on spotting macular neovascularisation, improving hospital referrals and handling regulatory complaints, delivered with Johnson & Johnson Vision Care.
28 Oct 2026Optometry Today
21
BCLA opens nominations for its 2027 awards.
Nominations close on 2 April 2027, and winners will be announced at BCLA Celebrates on 19 June.
28 Oct 2026ABDO
22
BCLA’s first paid-for webinar is on oculomics.
“Oculomics: the eye as a window to health” runs on Tuesday 3 November from 6.30pm to 7.30pm, and it’s the first BCLA webinar that non-members will pay to join.
23 Oct 2026ABDO
Clinical and innovation
23
Could a pill treat diabetic retinopathy?
In a Trinity College Dublin study with Breye Therapeutics, published in Science Translational Medicine, oral danegaptide was safe and well tolerated in 24 patients with non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy. More than half (55%) showed early signs of biological activity, such as reduced retinal leakage.
29 Oct 2026Optometry Today
24
Smartphone screening project wins £120,000 from Innovate UK.
Birmingham City University’s Sightmark-AI project will build an evaluation framework for AI-powered smartphone fundus imaging, working with Black Space Technology and Oui Inc.
28 Oct 2026Optometry Today
25
£2.2m for a retinal surgery robot.
The NIHR is funding King’s College London, Moorfields and the University of Kent to develop a flexible robot that can deliver treatments into retinal blood vessels thinner than a human hair.
27 Oct 2026Optometry Today
26
Headlight glare is still a problem for drivers.
In an RAC survey of 1,208 UK drivers, 83% said they were worried about glare as the evenings draw in, and 76% of those affected said it was getting worse. It’s a timely prompt for anti-reflection and night-driving lens conversations.
28 Oct 2026Optometry Today
27
Omega-3 linked to lower glaucoma risk in dry eye patients.
An analysis of 14,168 people with dry eye disease found that those prescribed omega-3 were around half as likely to develop glaucoma, and 43% less likely to develop ocular hypertension, over five years.
27 Oct 2026Optometry Today
28
Corneal “bumps” may drive Fuchs dystrophy.
University of Waterloo researchers found that the tiny bumps that form beneath endothelial cells in Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy can themselves kill those cells through physical stress. That could open up alternatives to corneal transplants.
28 Oct 2026ABDO
29
FDA questions Sydnexis’ low-dose atropine.
Ahead of an FDA advisory committee meeting today, 30 October, the agency asked whether the 48-month SYD-101-001 trial of 0.01% atropine for paediatric myopia shows a clinically meaningful benefit.
28 Oct 2026Contact Lens Spectrum
30
Oral RP drug gets orphan status.
The FDA has granted orphan drug designation to Octant Bio’s OCT-980, an oral treatment for rhodopsin-associated autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa, a condition with no approved therapy.
28 Oct 2026Healio
31
One-shot gene therapy cuts wet AMD injections by 97%.
Phase 2 interim results for Sanofi’s SAR402663, presented at Euretina, showed a 97% reduction in treatment burden at the medium dose, and more than 90% of patients needed no supplementary anti-VEGF.
29 Oct 2026Healio
32
FDA reports show more glare and halos with premium IOLs.
A Mayo Clinic analysis of 17,204 FDA adverse-event reports found that glare and halos were reported far more often with multifocal and extended depth of focus lenses than with monofocals (halos around 30% versus 8.6%). That’s useful context for post-cataract counselling.
29 Oct 2026Healio
33
Sense Medical supports oculomics research in Uganda.
The UK company is providing OCT systems for a programme exploring links between ocular biomarkers and major health conditions.
27 Oct 2026Optometry Today
That’s the week. The argument is over who can do a sight test, and where. The Budget has changed the wage and rates bill. And the clinical papers keep coming.
If the GOC’s plans for splitting the sight test, or the Budget’s changes to wages and rates, have you rethinking how the practices are staffed and run, drop me a line. A 6/6 Review is a different conversation — read how that works.