Most people when asked why they need specs answer with something like:

“to see”

“because I am short sighted, or is it long - which is which?”

“because I am blind as a bat without them”

Mostly people cannot explain and end up saying things like they have “rugby balled shaped eyes” as they have “a stigma”.

This would be funny if these same people had not had multiple eye tests throughout their life and nobody they had seen had manged to explain their condition to them in any useful way.

We always explain your myopia (short sight), hyperopia (long sight), need for reading glasses (presbyopia) etc. We use words, graphics and demos to help make things clear (sorry). It is interesting and empowering to do this.

Wonder why this does not happen as a matter of course in all eye tests? Well, it is because if you go somewhere running a fully booked 20 minute diary there is not time. 20 mins is not enough for you or the optometrist - it is the right time if you are an accountant sitting in the USA/Guernsey (google who I mean!) who is trying to up profits though.

So, an unhurried eye test allows for a decent conversation and time for explanations and answering questions - better for you and me.

Look forward to seeing you.

We’ve been to Paris and ordered new frames from some old friends and some new ones. More sea plastic ones, some handmade in France and Holland and others too.

They’ll be arriving over the coming months, though some arrived 5 days after we got home. We are very much hoping that ordering stuff from our EU partners will not get too difficult after we leave. It is so easy currently, no forms, no taxes, no friction. Last year the Dutch guys we deal with said there was no way we’d leave - they still don’t believe it.

My Brother-in-law is a Philosophy Professor specialising in ethics and he says “Ethical and Profitable are two incompatible motivations”. Is he right? Has his living in America for 25 years, the last few under Trump, made him forget the good old British concept of trying to do the right thing? Or is it more that it is difficult to be profitable if you are ethical?

The starting point for Eyeye’s “do the right thing” approach was to be up-front and transparent about the cost of our spectacles. It is the opposite of “Ryanair pricing” in that we tell you the final price at the beginning, not at the end as a nasty surprise when all their up-sells have been added on. People who have been to other opticians respond well to this, if you like, Yorkshire pricing – buy one, get one. But, while our prices are more than competitive versus the final price you pay elsewhere, most of our competitors lure customers in with headline offer prices that you very rarely end up paying at the end. So, we need different, creative ways of getting people through our doors, like events and a bold, opinionated (polite) social media presence.

Another important feature of how we conduct our business is that we allow much longer for an eye test than others. For example, most Specsavers allow 20 minutes per appointment and we have more than double that. This allows us time to listen, understand problems, take and discuss pictures and give advice about keeping your eye healthy. The eye test is more enjoyable for the patient and the optician – it allows us time to hopefully build a trusting relationship. But, the more tests you squeeze in, the more money you might make.

We also look for suppliers who are trying to do the right thing too. We have frames made from recycled sea waste plastic, plant-based products and recycled steels. We also, use a Sheffield-based lens lab as we think that is sensible from a sustainability point of view. This contrasts with Boots who fly in four planes a day from Thailand, where their frames are glazed. These initiatives make me and loyal customers feel good, but don’t help in keeping our costs down.

We’ve been open 3 years now and are looking forward to one day getting to the point when we might have some tax to pay on some profits. We have undoubtedly attracted some customers by shouting about our ethical credentials, but we do need more if we are to keep going. In these uncertain times Sheffield is even more price sensitive than ever and the lure of Amazon “bargains” is there for all of us.

My response to the Brother-in-law in Michigan perhaps ought to be; do people really believe you can be ethical and affordable? We’re trying to be and we do like to think in our case that maybe seeing is believing.