HANNAH BIRD TALKS TO SOUTHSEA LIFESTYLE ABOUT TAKING OVER ONE OF SOUTHSEA’S OLDEST BUSINESSES, PERCY HARRISON OPTICIANS

‘Percy Harrison Opticians has been the name over this shop for over 100 years, so it seemed a bit presumptuous to change it when I took over,’ laughed Hannah, who bought the business in September last year. ‘I used to work at an opticians in Chichester, where I also studied to become a fully qualified dispensing optician in 2019. I studied in my own time, whist bringing up my then, one-year old daughter Bella. Bella is one of the reasons I bought this practice, because, apart from wanting to create an enjoyable place to work, I’d also love my daughter to take over the business one day… let’s see what happens,’ said Hannah with a grin.

‘Of course, a great deal has changed in optics over the past 100 years, with the development of lenses, lens materials, frames, and state of the art equipment. Since I purchased the practice, we’ve introduced new and exciting eyewear brands, carefully curated from independent manufacturers all over the world. In fact, we try to guide people when choosing glasses, so that the prescription, lenses, frame, face and lifestyle all work together. It’s a very thorough and personal service, especially when compared to some of the high street chains of opticians. we believe in providing quality independent eyewear and delivering excellence in eyecare.

‘Having taken over such a long-established practice, it does mean we have lots of loyal patients, including some who came here for their eye test as children and are now in their 90s. Since taking over, the staff have remained with me as well, each are experts in their field. Ian for example has 40 years, experience, and is a dispensing optician, Ian and Ceri (one of our optometrists) joined our existing team after the closure of Portsmouth University Eye Clinic. Eleanor (another of our optometrists) has worked with us for around a year now and has developed some lovely relationships with our patients. She is incredibly thorough and experienced, and has a background in Medical Science. Not forgetting Berenice, our amazing receptionist who puts all our clients at their ease. It’s a great team, offering a great service. Between our professional team, we have a joint experience of around 100 yearsalmost the age of our practice!

‘We accept outside prescriptions if clients wish to book in for a dispensing consultation. We also offer an eyecare plan which runs alongside our NHS contract to enable us to offer eyecare that falls outside of the NHS entitlement at an affordable rate. There are several other benefits that come with the plan’.

Percy Harrison

117 Elm Grove Southsea PO5 1LH 023 9282 6831 https://percyharrisonopticians.co.uk