Optical weekly · 7 October
The optical week.
A Friday note from Seamus. Thirty stories from 30 September to 7 October. The ones closest to a multi-site estate come first. The rest of the trade follows.
First
Closest to the estate
A busy week. Silmo is still filtering through the product pipeline, UK multiples and independents kept opening doors, and two stories should be on every operator’s radar: a major European chain pulling smart glasses over privacy, and a 300-plus-office deal reshaping US optometry. These six sit nearest the work.
01
Boots Opticians opens inside Morrisons, Kidderminster.
Boots has taken an in-store unit at Morrisons on Green Street, which an independent opticians had left earlier in the year when its lease was forfeited. It’s another sign that supermarket footfall is back on the multiples’ property list.
30 Sep 2026Kidderminster Shuttle
02
Mackey Opticians puts six figures into a new Portadown practice.
Northern Ireland’s largest independent (14 practices, 50+ staff) has opened a standalone site offering optometry and audiology, with capacity for MECS, glaucoma monitoring and post-cataract clinics.
30 Sep 2026Northern Ireland World
03
Hans Anders halts Ray-Ban Meta sales in the Netherlands and Belgium.
The Nexeye-owned chain has pulled the smart glasses from stores and online, citing the growing privacy row, and calls it a temporary pause while the debate plays out.
2 Oct 2026RetailDetail EUEyewear Intelligence
04
Health minister backs more primary care on the high street.
Speaking on the AOP panel at Labour conference, Dame Diana Johnson MP pointed to Pharmacy First as a model she’d like to see copied. This is a clear opening for optometry-led services.
6 Oct 2026Optometry Today
05
2.54m GOS eye exams carried out in Scotland.
Public Health Scotland figures show NHS-funded exams rose in 2025/26, and also report uptake of the Specialist Supplementary Service.
1 Oct 2026Optometry Today
06
GOC review says newly qualified staff need more commercial readiness.
A thematic review of how commercial practices affect patient safety found students and early-career registrants need better preparation for the commercial realities of the job.
2 Oct 2026ABDO
Then
The wider optical week
Retail moves
07
Carl Zeiss Vision UK acquires OcuPlan.
The West Midlands private eye care membership network, which links optometrists and consultants, is now owned by Zeiss, which plans to roll it out through its UK network of opticians.
1 Oct 2026OcuPlan
08
EssilorLuxottica reportedly planning Essilor-branded eye clinics in Italy.
Milano Finanza reports a new company, Essilor Eye Clinic, is hiring ophthalmologists and nurses ahead of a pilot in Milan. This is vertical integration moving into medical eye care.
6 Oct 2026Eyewear Intelligence
09
Zeiss names Jesper Wiegandt CEO of Zeiss Vision Care.
Wiegandt took the role on 1 October and remains acting CCO. He succeeds Sven Hermann, who continues as CEO of Zeiss Consumer Markets.
7 Oct 2026Vision Monday
10
MyEyeDr. to acquire EyeCare Partners’ optometry division.
The deal covers more than 300 offices, including the Clarkson Eyecare and Nationwide Vision brands, and would add them to MyEyeDr.’s 900-plus locations. Closing is expected in Q4, subject to regulatory approval.
Reported 6 Oct 2026 (announced 28 Sep, slightly outside the window)Review of Optometric Business
11
SpyGlass Pharma buys IOL maker Advanced Vision Science from Santen.
The roughly $13m deal secures manufacturing for the IOL used in SpyGlass’s drug-eluting BIM-IOL glaucoma trials.
2 Oct 2026Ophthalmology Management
12
Jobson publishes its 2026 Eyecare Industry Consolidation Index.
The index is a directory of 40+ private equity and corporate consolidators, covering investors, executives and locations. It’s useful context for anyone weighing an exit or a buy-and-build.
5 Oct 2026Vision Monday
13
Eyemart Express opens its first Cochise County store.
The 2,800 sq ft Sierra Vista store, Eyemart’s sixth in Arizona, carries 2,000+ frames and has an on-site lab for same-day glasses. A grand opening was planned for 3 October.
30 Sep 2026Herald/Review
14
Mountain Eyeworks relocates to a bigger site in Steamboat Springs.
The independent has moved into a 3,600 sq ft space with four exam rooms, so doctors can see patients at the same time, and has room left to grow.
5 Oct 2026Steamboat Pilot
Product and trade shows
15
CooperVision opens its Southampton Vision Centre and announces six new products.
The new global R&D headquarters at Adanac Park came with a pipeline of six innovations, including contact lens options for myopic, astigmatic and multifocal patients.
6 Oct 2026Optometry Today
16
EssilorLuxottica launches Nuance Audio Plus.
The second-generation hearing glasses bring longer battery life, better audio and a wider range of styles. It’s a category multiples with audiology should be watching closely.
6 Oct 2026Optometry Today
17
Hakim Group runs SPA and FishTank in Nottingham.
Clinicians and independent partners met on 28–29 September for practical CPD, workshops and supplier time under the theme “Your CPD adventure awaits”.
6 Oct 2026ABDO
18
First Look London dates set for 17 September 2027.
A new London showcase for independent and emerging eyewear brands, with a leadership and business programme alongside.
5 Oct 2026Vision Monday
19
Silmo d’Or 2026 winners announced.
The Paris awards recognised brands and designers across a wide range of categories. They’re worth a look before your next buying round.
1 Oct 2026Optometry Today
20
Ultra Limited unveils seven new acetate styles at Silmo.
The Italian brand’s new optical and sun styles, including Asolo, Lerici and the cat-eye sun style Chioggia, explore layered acetate and contrasting inserts.
1 Oct 2026Vision Monday
21
MODO introduces the Lumia collection.
Lumia brings colour and transparency to MODO’s lightweight frames. It debuted at Silmo to partners in 83 countries and reaches selected independents from September 2027.
2 Oct 202620/20 Europe
22
Cardine debuts with the LA-PA brand.
The new independent eyewear company’s first collection, by designer Tatiana De Arruda, mixes titanium, stainless steel and acetate, with styles named after Los Angeles streets.
5 Oct 202620/20 Magazine
23
Samsung confirms “Intelligent Eyewear” AI glasses for November.
Samsung’s first AI glasses send camera and microphone data through a Galaxy phone to Gemini, and include recording indicators. That puts them up against Ray-Ban Meta at the counter.
2 Oct 2026AI Affairs
Clinical and innovation
24
Retinal images flag atrial fibrillation up to four years early.
UK researchers analysed imaging data from 90,000 people. It adds to the growing oculomics case for the community optometry chair.
5 Oct 2026Optometry Today
25
SeeAbility wins NHS special schools contract for London and the South East.
The charity will provide eye care in every special school across the region, around 70,000 children, as the NHS rolls the service out across the UK.
1 Oct 2026Optometry Today
26
GOC report shows a 46% jump in DO course admissions.
Optometry admissions also rose by 16.3% in 2025/26, which is encouraging news for workforce planning.
2 Oct 2026ABDO
27
One in five people with eye conditions offered “bogus” treatments.
A survey of 955 UK and US adults found close to 20% had come across therapies with insufficient evidence behind them.
1 Oct 2026Optometry Today
28
Vision Care launches Right to Sight Week (5–10 October).
The week links World Sight Day and World Homeless Day and asks the optical sector to help remove barriers to eye care for people experiencing homelessness.
2 Oct 2026ABDO
29
Topcon spins out Oku Digital Health to scale AI oculomics.
Oku launches globally across a network of 10,000+ care locations, combining AI-supported diagnostics, EHR integration and referral workflows.
6 Oct 2026Vision Monday
30
Harrow closes its acquisition of Tyrvaya from Viatris.
The dry eye nasal spray (varenicline) joins Harrow’s North American ophthalmic portfolio.
6 Oct 2026Vision Monday
That’s the week. If one thread runs through it, it’s that the high street is being asked to do more clinically, from Pharmacy First-style services to retinal screening, while the big groups keep buying scale. Operators who get their clinical capacity and their property strategy pointing the same way will do well out of both.
If any of this raises questions for your estate, your teams or your next move, drop me a line. A 6/6 Review is a different conversation — read how that works.