Our history

Specsavers story so far.

Over the last 30 years, we’ve come a long way from our humble beginnings in the Perkins’ spare room. Nowadays, we’re proud to offer affordable eyecare and hearing services to customers across the globe.

1983

Specsavers founded. Doug and Mary Perkins started the business on a ping‑pong table in their spare room, after a change in UK regulations allowed professionals to advertise their products and services for the first time

1984

Opened first stores in Guernsey and the UK. The first stores opened with the aim to provide a wide range of modern and stylish glasses at an affordable price for everyone

1990

Opened first store in Ireland

1997

Opened first international store in the Netherlands

1999

Opened flagship store in Tottenham Court Road, London, the 350th in the UK

2002

Expanded into audiology in the UK

2003

Launched Should’ve gone to Specsavers strapline in the UK

2003

Awarded Supreme Achievement Award by the optical industry

2004

Opened first store in Sweden

2005

Opened first store in Norway

2005

Acquired Louis Nielsen in Denmark

2006

Opened first store in Spain

2007

Mary Perkins made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire

2008

Opened 100 stores in 100 days in Australia and New Zealand

2009

Celebrated 25 years in business

2011

Opened 700th store in Belfast, Northern Ireland

2012

Became NHS‑qualified hearing care providers. Specsavers is now accredited by over half of the NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups in England to provide NHS hearing services in local community setting. So people can get the assistance they need with their hearing, closer to home

2012

The Dame Mary Perkins Optometry Training Centre opened in Zambia

2013

Launched UK home visit eyecare service. Providing access to our eyecare services for those who are unable to visit us in store due to physical or mental disabilities

2016

Partnered with ophthalmology business, Newmedica. Our preferred NHS‑approved provider of care for those who need advanced eyecare services

2017

Partnership with International Glaucoma Association. Helping to raise awareness of glaucoma and encourage everyone to have regular eye exams

2017

Launched first global celebrity eyewear collection with Kylie Minogue

2018

New Frame Styler and AudioPad technology rolled out in UK and Ireland

2018

Launch of new will.i.am global brand. Exclusive to Specsavers

2019

Nationwide roll out of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) equipment. Providing hospital‑grade scanning technology in our stores so that we can get an even better view of our customers’ eye health

2019

900th UK and Ireland Specsavers store opened in Dalgety Bay, Scotland. Dame Mary Perkins and radio DJ and TV presenter, Edith Bowman, unveiled Specsavers’ 900th store to open in the UK and Ireland

2020

Specsavers remains open for urgent and essential care throughout the COVID‑19 pandemic

2020

Logo evolves to a single colour and a change of font for the first time in 25 years

2021

Open first stores in British Columbia, Canada