Contact lens manufacturer Daysoft has announced it is to buy the Scottish factory which it currently operates, increase capacity and take on more staff.
The company is growing fast – increasing its orders by around 10 per cent a month – thanks to a switch in its business model which since 2006 has seen it sell directly to consumers over the internet only. It is the only contact lens manufacturer to operate in this way.
The brand undercuts leading high street opticians by over 50 per cent on price – a month’s supply costs under £10 – and it has thus witnessed an exponential rise in its customer base. It now has 3,000 weekly wearers and has produced and distributed over 200 million lenses overall.
The company has now decided to buy its 27,000 square foot production plant in Hamilton International Technology Park in Blantyre near Glasgow. It has also added 35 more members of staff, bringing its total to 150.
“The continued growth of our business has boosted our resources at a time when other manufacturers are struggling,” said Ron Hamilton, Daysoft founder and chairman. “We judged this a great time to invest in our building and increase our staff levels.”
Hamilton is actually accredited with developing the first ever daily contact lenses. He invented them in the early 90s but the idea was rejected by his then employers as a conflict of interest. So Hamilton set up Daysoft.
He added: “The purchase of our laboratory and office premises in Blantyre brings our investment this year alone to £2.5 million. Our growing online sales mean that for more clicks we can invest in more bricks. We really feel we have the tiger by the tail and we’ll be looking at other opportunities to grow the business in the near future.
“My belief always was that we could take an extremely high quality disposable lens to the market at an incredibly cheap price. The internet has brought with it opportunities that have enabled us to do exactly that. To be a manufacturer that’s expanding when most are contracting shows that the Daysoft business model is unbeatable.”
