Specsavers Hartlepool shortlisted for national opticians' award

Specsavers Hartlepool, in Middleton Grange Shopping Centre, is up against five other stores across the UK for the title of multiple practice of the year, which awards practices for excellence in eye care and customer care.

Since 2021, the store has welcomed more optometrists, added a hearing hub to its service and invested £40,000 in an optical coherence tomography (OCT) scanner.

An OCT scan takes 3D images of the back of the eye, checks current eye health and helps identify potential future eye risks before symptoms show.

Ash Karim and Cian Murphy have also joined existing partner Steven Wheatley who has worked at the store for 15 years.

Mr Wheatley, partner and store director of Specsavers Hartlepool, said: “We are ecstatic to be shortlisted for the multiple practice of the year.

“I believe the reason we have been recognised is because we have continued to heavily invest in our people and in the local community of Hartlepool which is absolutely vital to our success.

“We have a team of twelve attending the award ceremony, so we are looking forward to the evening and our fingers are very much crossed.”

The winner will be announced at the awards ceremony on Wednesday, November 30, in London.

Mr Wheatley said: “The day after the awards we’ll be celebrating either way at Winter Wonderland and when we get back to Hartlepool, the whole team will spend a day at the York Christmas Markets as a thank you for everyone’s hard work.”