Small is beautiful for optician with expansion in his sights

Jun 3 2009 By Alistair Houghton

Alistair Houghton meets JOHN WELSBY, managing director of Conlons Opticians

IT’S not hard to see that there’s a huge amount of competition in the opticians’ trade – but John Welsby is confident that the personal touch of Conlons Opticians can help the Liverpool-based chain to keep growing.

Conlons, which has 18 branches, may seem like small fry in a market that boasts giants such as Vision Express, Specsavers and the new Boots/Dolland & Aitchison conglomerate with 690 branches.

But Conlons’ managing director Welsby, who was inspired to become an optician by the treatment he received as a child for his long-sightedness, says his firm can offer a personal touch that the giants cannot.

And, despite the recession, he believes 127-year-old Conlons will within four years have bought or opened several more branches.

Welsby said: “It’s been great for us having all that competition because it means we have to get off our backsides and do something about it.

“We’ve been updating our stores to make sure they look good, and investing in our equipment. We try to stay one step ahead.

“As a small company we can deliver that. Goodness knows how someone manages it with 690 branches.

“We have to be unique in our offering.

“We sell a lot of designer brands, and where we think we differ from other opticians is our greater ranges. An average optician might have two Prada and three Versace frames whereas we will have the full range.

“We offer interest-free credit and we always offer promotions.”

Conlons has branches from south west Scotland to North Wales. Locally it has branches in Formby, Heswall, Ormskirk, Widnes and Liverpool city centre.

The group employs 160 people and turns over £9.5m.

Bernard Conlon founded his first practice in 1882 in Liverpool’s Mount Pleasant, where the company still has its head office.

Bernard’s son, Bill, took over the firm in 1909 and led it until his death in 1946. He was succeeded by his daughter, Winifred Harbord, who saw the company through the formation of the NHS.

In 1970 her nephew Mike Barton took over as managing director. He expanded the business and took it into new areas, including contact lenses.

“We were one of the first people in the North West to start mailing contact lenses to customers,” said Welsby.

“Contact lenses are still a very important part of our business, especially in Liverpool. In our Ranelagh Street branch, we have a whole floor for contact lenses.”

Welsby is the son of a Warrington coal merchant but realised early on that he did not want to move into that trade,

“My father worked very hard and got very dirty and didn’t really want to pass that on to me,” he said. “I did spend one winter carrying coal and I didn’t really want to do it either.

“I’m very long-sighted so I wear contact lenses and spectacles. As a child I spent a lot of time in opticians. That seemed a good way forward.”

Welsby first joined Curry and Paxton, then the largest optician chain in the country, who sent him to London to train.

He joined Conlons in 1975, becoming manager of its branch in Mount Pleasant before he moved to its Widnes branch.

Welsby’s move to head office came in 1988, when Conlons looked to take advantage of the Government’s decision to relax the rules on television advertising. He worked with Mike Barton to design a promotional campaign and Conlons became just the second optician in the UK to advertise on television.

Welsby remained at head office from then, becoming operations director before taking the top job in 1997.

He says Conlons is being cautious with its growth plans, but remains optimistic his firm can keep growing through the downturn.

“At the moment we’ve got 18 stores and our plan is to have 25,” he said.

“Our five-year plan started a year ago. The credit crunch has probably put a little bit of a dampener on that.

“But we have acquired some businesses recently. Last year, for example, we acquired Alice Joyce opticians in Formby and merged it with out business there with great success.

“We are actively looking for new opportunities. Even though we’re being cautious, we’re still looking for the right opportunities to come along. We’re still hoping to be on target with our five-year goal.”

Welsby says shoppers have so far been “kind” to his business.

“That’s down to where we stand in the marketplace and the loyalty we have from our customers,” he said.

“We’ve got a database of 250,000 people and a lovely new website. Peter Barton, from the original founding family, has been developing the site for us.

“We are keeping ahead of the competition. It’s more challenging all the time, but we’re up for it.”

Welsby is particularly proud of his company’s Investors in People status and says Conlons’ staff have been key to the company’s success.

“I call every one of our staff by their first names and they call me by mine,” he said.

“We’re not hierarchical at all. We listen to what the people in our branches tell us is good for us. More importantly, we listen to what our customers tell us.

“You probably couldn’t have that style with 690 branches, but it works for us.

“We also encourage loyalty from our staff. At our Liverpool store our four key staff, including the optometrist and the manager, have got 95 years’ service between them.”

Welsby, who still lives in Warrington, is a proud family man. He and his son Phil last month cycled the full length of the Trans-Pennine Trail from Southport to Hornsea to raise hundreds of pounds for the North West Cancer Research Fund.

As well as being a keen cyclist, he also describes himself as a “mad Warrington Wolves fan” and follows the Super League side at home and away.

“The only disenchantment is that we never win anything,” he smiled. “We’re always mid-table.

“But we’ve got England coach Tony Smith as head coach now and that’s going to be good news for us.”