Specsavers Harrogate director Robert May is retiring after 30 years of serving the sight needs of the local community.
From the store’s beginnings, Robert has grown the opticians from a store with three test rooms and six staff to 11 testing rooms across eye and hearing services and a team of 50 people.
Having entered optics after being inspired by his school physics teacher, Robert is keen to inspire the next generation of optometrists, regularly attending career fairs to excite students about a future in eye care.
Robert says:
I often say to people, in what other job do you get the opportunity to make a difference to someone’s life every 20 minutes? There’s so much more to it than just getting customers new glasses. I’ve experienced the industry progress from pen and paper to full retinal photos and OCT scans, the level of holistic eye healthcare we can provide is really exciting.
Having grown the Harrogate Specsavers to more than three times its original size over 30 years, Robert leaves the store in the capable hands of optometrist director, Fraz Khan, optometrist director, Caroline Sullivan and retail director Andrew Bryer who worked alongside Robert for 19 years and has recently rejoined the Harrogate team.
On Robert’s retirement Fraz says:
Robert has been a pleasure to work with over the last two years and he will be dearly missed by staff and customers alike. He’s gone above and beyond during his 30 years as an optometrist director and we hope he enjoys his well-deserved retirement.
Caroline adds:
The development of the business over 30 years has been remarkable, we are keen to continue Robert’s momentum and are really pleased to be joined by Andrew as we keep striving to better serve the sight and hearing needs of the Harrogate community.
Looking back on his career, Robert fondly remembers testing the eyes of some famous faces, most notably Stephen Fry. And looks forward to his retirements plans of taking on the 12 and 12 challenge, cycling 12000km in just 12 months.
