Specsavers delegates from Australia and New Zealand were congratulated on their strong performance at an annual dinner in Melbourne recently. As well as recording another year of growth in revenue, franchisees raised a total of AU$750,000 for community programs, in addition to which $121,500 was raised for Make a Wish Foundation Australia and New Zealand at the seminar awards dinner.
Specsavers has reported continued strong growth in annual sales, with Australian sales for 2014/15 totalling AU$708 million, up 12.4 per cent from $630 million in 2013/14.
Annual sales for Specsavers franchisees in New Zealand totalled $106 million up 18 per cent from $90 million the previous year. This was the first time that NZ franchisees achieved more than $100 million in annual sales. Average annual sales per store in New Zealand were $2.04 million and $2.35 million in Australia.
The achievements were announced at the organisation’s annual ‘Awards for Excellence’ dinner in Melbourne on Sunday 8 March, which was attended by Specsavers founder Dame Mary Perkins and 600 Specsavers franchise partners.
the UK has been going since 1984 but they’re beginning to follow some of the things Australians and the New Zealanders are doing
Specsavers market-share reportedly remained on par when compared to last year at 35 per cent plus total customer numbers in Australia and 40 per cent plus in New Zealand.
Collectively the franchisees performed more than three million eye tests and dispensed 3.8 million pairs of glasses across the two countries. A significant milestone was the 15 millionth pair of glasses, dispatched from Port Melbourne to Specsavers Auckland CBD in January 2015. Specsavers Australia and New Zealand CEO, Paul Fussey, presented a second copy of the 15 millionth pair of glasses to brand ambassador Alex Perry in recognition of his personal contribution to the organisation – more than one million Alex Perry frames have now been sold to Specsavers’ customers.
Awards for Excellence
Dame Mary spoke to attendees at the dinner, congratulating them on their achievements and acknowledging that Specsavers Australia and New Zealand was, in many regards, leading the way. She said, “some of the stuff that’s come out today I’m going to take back to the UK… the UK has been going since1984 but they’re beginning to follow some of the things the Australians and New Zealanders are doing… we do learn a lot from the countries we are in – and you certainly have led the way”.
Dame Mary said the Australian and New Zealand stores had “lived the vision and values every day” and have “done it really, really well”.
The award for Australian store of the year went to Specsavers Strathpine in Queensland and Specsavers Riccarton Westfield in Christchurch was named the New Zealand store of the Year. In Australia, overall excellence awards were presented to Specsavers Burnie Tasmania (small); Woy Woy New South Wales (medium) and Strathpine Queensland (large). In New Zealand, overall excellence awards were presented to Whakatane (small); Masterton (medium) and Riccarton Westfield (large).
Awards for Excellence were presented to Specavers Perth Terrace, Western Australia (Excellence in Customer Service); Specsavers Hornsby North, New South Wales (Professional Excellence); Specsavers Geraldton, Western Australia (Excellence in Team Culture); and Specsavers
Hornby, New Zealand (Excellence
in the Community).
Donation to Make a Wish
Impressively, Specsavers stores in Australia and New Zealand raised a total of $750,000 for community programs in stores across the country in the past 12 months. In addition to this, on the night of the Awards Dinner itself, AU$121,500 was donated by the assembled franchise partners via a Prize Draw to the Make a Wish Foundation Australia and New Zealand.
With the total donations from each table counted, and as the awards evening drew to a close, Dame Mary and Mr. Fussey presented a cheque for $121,500 to Make a Wish Foundation Australia and New Zealand CEO, Mr. Gerard Menses.
Accepting the donation, Mr. Menses thanked those in attendance and said Specsavers’ support had made a difference. He said Make a Wish believes that, “if we take the time and care to cater to what’s in a child’s heart when they’re fighting for their life with a life-threatening condition, and if we capture what’s in their heart and take them on the most wondrous journey of anticipation and then we give them a magical experience… we will maximise that chance of survival…” Mr. Menses spoke of an Israeli study that showed children who receive a wish respond to their medication better than other children.
Seminar and Exhibition
As the only Specsavers event that brings together all partners from across Australia and New Zealand, the annual Partnership seminar and awards evening is an important networking event on the organisation’s calendar. The awards presentation is preceded by a full day seminar which this year took place in the main Plenary Hall at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. The event provided the opportunity for the Australian and New Zealand support office teams to present the annual plan for the year 2015/16, which for Specsavers runs from 1 March to 28 February.
Alongside the seminar was an all-day exhibition at which Specsaver’s support office teams presented a range of products and services to partners.
