Specsavers, the high street brand, known for low-cost eyewear is launching audacious plans to build a new factory in Worcestershire.
The firm has announced plans to build a new £12m manufacturing and distribution facility in Kidderminster.
The 75,000 square feet development would combine two existing Specsavers operations in the area – Specsavers’ International Glazing (SIG) and Lens Online (LO) –to meet the firm’s growing demands.
SIG glazes customers’ frames with prescription lenses for stores in Nordic countries, while the LO business stocks and sends out lenses and contact lenses to stores and directly to customers.
Specsavers estimated it would employ around 230 more people across the two businesses within five years of moving to the new site.
Simon Holloway, director of manufacturing and distribution at Specsavers, said: “The growth of our business means that we have outgrown the current site. We were keen to keep the business in the local area to make sure we retain our skilled staff and, following a tender process, we decided on the Stourpoint Five site.”
Launched in 1984, Specsavers now has over 2000 high street branches across the UK. The Specsavers Partnership is the world’s largest optical retailer with more than 1,650 stores operating across 10 countries.
In 2012/13, it saw 11.6% more customers and continued to grow the business with an increase in total revenue of 6.9% to £1.8bn globally.
