Opticians looks for further growth after new acquisition

BIRMINGHAM-based opticians, Scrivens has expanded its presence in the market with a new acquisition.

The family-owned business acquired Midland-based Owl Optical. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Owl is owned by brothers Simon and David Harrison, with eight branches in Stratford upon Avon, Newquay, Weston-Super-Mare, Penzance, Royston, Shirley (Solihull), Radcliffe and Ashton-in-Makerfield.  

The acquisition takes the Scrivens group to 178 branches across England and Wales and will further increase the retailer’s presence on the high street. It will also increase its ability to take advantage of the rapidly changing optical and hearing care market.

Scrivens chairman, Nicholas Georgevic, said: “We are very much a family company and our success, since my grandfather founded the business in 1938, has been built on a philosophy of making the customer our one and only focus. The Owl business has also been built on the same values, providing high quality professional eye care over many years.

“Tactical acquisition is one part of our strategy for growth, but we are very careful to acquire companies with similar cultures and objectives, where customer satisfaction is the key priority and professional standards are extremely high.”

Owl’s branches will continue to operate under their individual names and the 50 employees will remain with the enlarged group.  

Owl director, Simon Harrison, said: “My brother and I founded Owl in 1968 but the time has come for us to hand over the reins as my brother and I take retirement. The Scrivens Group is the perfect partner to take Owl forward and we are confident that our loyal staff will enjoy a bright future under the new ownership.”

Scrivens will expand the offering at the newly-acquired branches by introducing its hearing aid services.

“Our hearing care division is seeing sharp growth in terms of NHS and private care provision and this acquisition gives us further opportunity to broaden the reach of our offer which is being driven by customer demand,” added Georgevic.

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