SPECSAVERS WEMBLEY PARK celebrated the opening of their new store on Wednesday 28th September 2022. To mark this prestigious occasion the store was opened by The Mayor of Brent, Cllr. Abi Aden and Dame Mary Perkins, Specsavers Co-Founder.
Councillor Aden, accompanied by members of Brent Council, including Cllr. Muhammed Butt, Leader of the Council were met by Specsavers Wembley Park, Lyndon Matroos, Retail Director, Rakesh Kapoor, Optometrist Director, Hardika Ladwa, Optometrist Director and Anjna Kapoor, Hearcare Director for a tour of the store, including the newly installed hearcare centre, which offers a range of hearing tests and hearing aids.
Situated in the heart of the new prestigious development at Wembley Park in Weaver Walk, the store is adjacent to the famous stadium and is five minutes from the London Designer Outlet, so it offers incredible access to local residents and commuters working in the locality. The store also stocks a range of designer brands, including the newly launched Liberty and Vivienne Westward ranges of eye ware, offering those high fashion conscious customers, a ‘look and feel’ to complement their individual styles.
Also in attendance to support the launch and answer any questions was an Ambassador from the Hearing Dogs for Deaf People charity, Louise Halvey and her cocker spaniel hearing dog, Flora. The charity trains puppies to alert people who are deaf, to important and life-saving sounds that they might otherwise miss, such as a doorbell, alarm clock and even danger signals such as a fire alarm.
The charity also helps deaf people to reconnect with life and leave loneliness behind, as life without sound can be very isolating.
The team at nearby Specsavers Wembley have been serving the local community for over 28 years, and have now expanded their service across the community, with the opening of this new store, with an investment of around £500,000. Customers will benefit from the very latest state of the art pre-room testing diagnostic equipment, including a dedicated hearcare centre, which includes a sound proof hearing box so that customers can have their hearing tested, coupled with the latest Micro-suction equipment to clear blocked ears.
There are also four consulting patient testing rooms, and two dual rooms offering enhanced customer service facilities.
Customers can choose to have an OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) 3D scan, which is advanced diagnostic, eye scanning equipment that helps detect several serious eye conditions, including glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. It can detect eye conditions up to four years ahead of them presenting via a standard eye test.
The OCT scan uses light to take more than 1,000 images of the back of the eye and beyond, looking at the optic nerve and creating a cross-sectional view. The optometrist can then store the customer’s OCT images and monitor for any changes over time, which is a real benefit to someone’s overall eye health.
Specsavers Wembley Park offers customers daily hearcare clinics. Clinical services include a full 15 minute hearing screener test, used to identify that the hearing is within the acceptable range, and a full one hour hearing test which produces a very accurate audiogram, to then potentially dispense hearing aids. Cllr. Abi Aden was given a full hearing test and sight test, so he could experience the state of the art testing rooms first hand.
The store sells a wide selection of hearing aids, provides a dedicated aftercare service and wax removal, and is fully supporting both private and NHS patients who have concerns with their hearing. It also provides options for a range of hearing protection aids which are available for activities such as swimming, music, work, cycling or even sleep plugs.
Specsavers generally encourage those aged over 50 to visit for a hearcare screening, with annual hearing tests being recommended for those over 55 years old. Loss of hearing can be an indicator of other conditions, so if it is picked up earlier, it may help to reduce the onset of certain conditions such as dementia.
The store opening has created local job opportunities with the recruitment of five new positions, providing each new team member with the chance to access the Specsavers career pathway. This enables members of staff to progress, study for qualifications and add to their skill sets. The directors are passionate about mentoring and training their team, assisting with career progression. The career pathway offers a wide range of roles, with training, industry recognised qualifications and on the job development, such as Optometrist, Dispensing Optician, Contact Lens Optician, Managerial positions and Audiologists.
Optometrist Director, Rakesh Kapoor said; ‘We are delighted that the Mayor of Brent and Dame Mary Perkins have been able to ‘officially’ open our new store. And that Louise and Flora from the Hearing Dogs for Deaf People charity have also given their support to the team on this very special launch day. We are all looking forward to continuing to support the local Wembley Park community, and to provide them with the very best sight and hearcare services.’
Mr Kapoor continued; ‘It has been invaluable being able to raise awareness of the importance of having a hearing test with Louise and the lovely Flora being in store today. The Hearing Dogs for Deaf People charity offer some incredible services to those people with hearing loss and help deaf people reconnect with life.’
Lyndon Matroos, Retail Director said; ‘The investment in the business will mean that residents and the local business community across Wembley Park can feel confident that they will receive the very best clinical care and customer service. Having an eye test is very much a general health check, and with the latest diagnostic equipment on-site the team are potentially able to identify any issues earlier. We look forward to welcoming new customers to our store and to expanding our team in the coming months.’
To discuss any eye or hear care queries, you can call the team at Specsavers Wembley Park on 020 8176 9836 or you can book an appointment online.
