In the Hot Seat - Richard Edwards

 

Richard Edwards, Head of Professional Resource at Boots Opticians discusses his 12 years at Boots, exciting new opportunities for practitioners, comes clean over his passion for football and how he developed his optometry skills in the Sacks at Aston. 

What is your current role and title?
Head of Professional Resource & Development, Boots Opticians

What are your responsibilities?
Responsible for the recruitment and development of professional staff at Boots Opticians.

How long have you been in your current role?
In various forms almost 12 years now

What interested you in this role?
Initially it was the intense recruitment challenge to find optometrists and the knowledge that success could really transform the business. Now it is the buzz of seeing great summer students progressing to pre reg to Staff Optometrist to Optometrist Practice Manager and, in an increasing number of cases, to be Brand Partners (franchisees) 

How do you think the Multiples will influence the changing face of optometry in the coming year/s?
In the same way they have in recent years. I think the competition in our profession currently is a great model for the provision of healthcare going forward in the UK and the multiples along with independents should be proud of that. I think the multiples have probably brought an increased focus on customer led initiatives and commercial savvy that have benefited the consumer greatly. As a benchmark look how some other health professionals  are having to be dragged screaming into the world of Saturday and late night working-things that are ‘just the way it is’ in optics. We have an eyecare service model in the UK that is high quality, easily accessible and represents outstanding value for money to both the government and our customers and we should be proud of that. I think the multiples may really start to dominate the sector as & when the internet really takes hold. The internet has the potential to just change everything we do from recruitment & training through to  ever more customer interactions. Going forward it will be interesting to see if the supermarkets really engage in the optics market.
 

Now that Vision Express have risen to the second largest multiple in the UK, how does this affect the company’s position in the marketplace?
It doesn’t. We are clear that our vision is the be The Leaders in Eyecare and we will continue to make decisions that enable us to be recognized by the UK consumer as that. Alongside that we have a disciplined framework by which we make decisions to deliver a meaningful return to our owners.
 

What attributes does your company look for in recruiting clinical staff?
So, clinical competence is an entry ticket to this profession no more than that. Ideally recruitment at Boots is about the personality of the practitioner and how they would fit within the values & culture of our organization. In some locations where it is really hard to find optometrists we have to be pragmatic but these locations are becoming fewer & further between.  
 

Boots went though significant changes in its workforce around 5 years ago. How does the company sit in the market place now?
A number of years ago we realized we had the wrong operating model, we had too many of our businesses managed by retail Managers, smaller practices that simply couldn’t justify a full time manager. We had no franchise model and we were not really leveraging enough from our association with one of the best Healthcare brands in the world. It was never going to be easy to get from there to where we wanted to be and we went through some painful steps to transform the business. Unfortunately we lost some good people on the way and some people chose not to come with us on the journey but I have to say I am prouder now of Boots Opticians than at any stage in my career. We have put optical professionals at the heart of our business, we have almost 80% of our chain managed by an optom or DO, we have over 30 businesses franchised, primarily to optics professionals and are really starting to see the benefits of these changes. As part of a private business I’m not sure how public our finances will be but we are delighted with our progress and it is fantastic to be part of a really entrepreneurial business now that is committed Healthcare at the heart of Boots and optics at the heart of healthcare.

If I came to work as a clinical optometrist within Boots, how has this role changed over the past 5 years? What would I expect to gain from the company?
I think the key word is opportunity.

• Opportunity to develop into an Optometrist Practice Manager with full training support from the wider Boots organization (this support has changed massively in recent years).
• Opportunity to be a pre reg supervisor or mentor.
• Opportunity to be involved in local shared care and now domiciliary services.
• Opportunity to be a Brand Partner and run your own practice as part of the Boots chain.

Tell me about Boots move into franchising its practices and the new Brand Partners. Has this been successful?
Yes. We have seen not just business benefits from this model but also our staff satisfaction and customer satisfaction trackers indicate that our colleagues and customer recognize a positive change when we franchise a business. Our current model is that of a pure franchise, whereby the Brand Partner owns the right to trade the Boots business for a period of time. Boots are paid a management fee for all marketing and head office support and the Brand Partner keeps all of the profit. More details can be found at http://www.bootsopticiansfranchise.com/
 

What prompted you to study optometry?
Two things really-firstly from an interest in photography I was really engaged by an optics module we did in A level physics-it just came quite easily to me. Secondly I just thought I’d enjoy the ‘solving problems’ and people interaction.

Where did you study and train?
Aston University 1983-6
Pre reg with Co-Op Opticians in Redcar.

Do you have an overriding memory of your undergraduate or pre-registration year?
Aston -great memories of some great people, too many to list. Really learning about being an optometrist in The Sacks of Potatoes pub not the library or lecture rooms. Optics always winning the inter department sports trophy. Pre reg-pressure & stress of PQEs, my first recheck (over doing the add & so restricted working distance). Utter elation at passing PQEs first time-really didn’t fancy resits. 

When you qualified what did you do next?
I stated work with Co op and then quickly moved to Miller & Santhouse which was great fun, got married…..which was also great fun (I have to say that as we’ve just celebrated 20 years).

What do you think has been your greatest accomplishment?
With my workaholic tendencies it would have to be 20 years of happy marriage. 

What was one of your greatest challenges?
Being part of the turnaround of Boots Opticians in recent years was tough but immensely rewarding.   

What irritates you?
People who are lazy, think the world owes them a living and seem to be in denial about the competitive nature of life. 

What is your greatest weakness?
I get very frustrated with myself very easily

How do you evaluate success?
My sporting instincts drive me to the result, the outcome. Nothing else matters.

What is important to you?
My family, my work in that order (that will be a surprise to them). Enjoying what I do with my time.

Do you have any interesting hidden talents?
When I was a Pre Reg my Saturday job was a professional footballer and I played in the football league for Hartlepool. When I qualified I turned down a professional football contract because I would earn more as an optometrist!

How would your friends describe you?
Energetic and passionate about what he does. I hope they say I was a decent dad.

If you had to live your life over again, what one thing would you change?
I would not have studied optometry. I would have done the Oxbridge entrance exam as I was advised to do by my sixth form tutor. He was right -it opens doors and creates opportunities that are simply not accessible in other ways.

What still interests you about optometry?
I am still fascinated by the mix of commercial & clinical elements of our profession.

What challenges do you look for in the future of optometry?
My personal challenge is still to recruit and retain the best people for our business.
I think the challenge for the profession that I am fascinated by is around how we will deal with the inevitability in the next few years of unemployed optometrists in some locations and not enough optometrists in others. It is looming large.
 
Link to previous In the Hot Seat interviews.

 

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