THIS long-standing Harrow opticians celebrated its milestone anniversary in style.

To help store colleagues mark the occasion, the Deputy Mayor of Harrow, Councillor Anjana Patel, was invited to officiate at the celebration. The Deputy Mayor was met by Tejal Sheth, optometrist director, and Adam Shackle, retail director, who introduced her to the store team and birthday guests. These included Louise Baxter, Manager, Harrow BID, as well as Hearing Dogs for Deaf People charity ambassador, Louise Halvey and her cocker spaniel Flora.

The charity helps deaf people to reconnect with life and leave loneliness behind, by training puppies to alert deaf people to important daily and life-saving sounds, including a doorbell and danger signals, such as a fire alarm.

Since opening its doors in June 1994, the team has dispensed almost one million pairs of glasses and provided sight tests for just under a quarter of a million customers. The audiology centre opened in 2006 and has since provided over 10,000 hearing tests to customers, so a real accolade to the high standard of the provision of customer care and service within the Harrow community.

With a remarkable combined 46 years of expertise in optics and retail management, the store directors, Tejal Sheth, optometrist director, Adam Shackle, retail director, Shakeel Hirani, ophthalmic director, and Sakina Khaki, audiology director, were delighted to welcome the Deputy Mayor to the store. Councillor Patel was given a tour of the sight and audiology test rooms, which have the very latest diagnostic testing equipment.

The Deputy Mayor gave a short speech and cut the celebration anniversary cake, followed by a toast to many more years of providing the very best sight and hearing care in Harrow. Following the formal celebrations, Councillor Patel then had a sight test with Tejal Sheth, ophthalmic director.

Customers visiting the store also joined in the birthday celebrations, receiving goody bags, birthday offers and some tasty treats.

Commenting on the day’s celebrations, Ms Sheth, optometrist director for over 17 years, says: ‘We are delighted that the Deputy Mayor can support our 30th birthday store anniversary and join in the celebrations. Over the years a lot has changed in the field of optics, but our core vision of delivering the very best customer service to our customers remains at the heart of what we do each day.’

Continuing, Ms Sheth says: ‘During this time, Specsavers Harrow has supported the community’s eye health, providing areas of expertise in spectacles, contact lenses, minor eye conditions, post cataract care and hearing aids.

‘This has helped to ease pressure on the NHS, as local GPs refer their patients to us for sight or hearing issues such as red eye, flashes and floaters, and ear wax removal. We are very much looking forward to the next 30 years.’

Specsavers Harrow offers customers access to state-of-the-art pre-room testing diagnostic equipment, including a visual fields analyser and OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) examination. The OCT, which is hospital grade advanced diagnostic, eye-scanning equipment, helps detect serious eye conditions, including glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy, up to four years earlier than traditional methods, and is currently on offer at the reduced price of just £5.

The added benefit of the scan is that each customer’s OCT images can be stored, with any changes being observed over time – a real benefit to the monitoring of someone’s overall eye health.

There is also a dedicated audiology centre, which offers a soundproof booth for customers to have their hearing tested, coupled with the latest micro-suction equipment for wax removal.
In addition, there are four test rooms, dedicated diagnostic testing areas and specific contact lens stations offering enhanced facilities to customers. The store operates 21 sight clinics a week, with audiology clinics available on most Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Opening times are Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm and Sunday, 10am until 5.30pm.
To book in for a sight or hearing test, you can contact Specsavers Harrow on 020 8424 0244. Alternatively, you can book online at https://www.specsavers.co.uk/stores/harrow