John, Dame Mary and Cathy Perkins show off the award. (0787423)
SPECSAVERS has been recognised as a top family business in the JP Morgan family business honours.
The company’s case study will now be distributed to all businesses who belong to the JP Morgan Institute for Family Businesses.
It also means that the company has joined the likes of Walkers Shortbread, Clarks shoes and the Pentland Group in being regarded as a role model for the private sector of the UK economy.
‘It is fantastic to see so many successful family businesses, some third and fourth generation,’ said Dame Mary Perkins on receiving the award at a ceremony at The Sage, in Newcastle.
‘The whole process involved a very comprehensive look inside the business, with a final submission beautifully written by Lord Frederick Windsor, son of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. He spent a full day meeting the whole Specsavers board, members of staff and our graduates.’
Lord Windsor described Specsavers as unusual in that each of the three Perkins children were heavily involved in the company, with a deep grounding in its values. His submission also highlighted that no distinction was made between family and non-family members.
He added that there was a shared sense of optimism and enthusiasm within the company and its ability to recognise and nurture development of its employees was another key factor in its success.
Joint managing director John Perkins agreed.
‘It is a core philosophy of the business never to cut down on training people.’
He took over the role of joint managing director, after father Doug started to spend more time overseeing expansion in Australia and New Zealand. Elder daughter Cathy acts as group technical audit manager, while younger daughter Julie has been involved in the Netherlands operation since its beginning.
The aim of the case study is to inspire other family businesses to emulate Specsavers’ achievements and increase the understanding of the factors, which underlie the company’s success.
Doug and Mary founded Specsavers in 1984 as regional opticians. It now operates 1,400 stores globally, with an annual turnover of more than £1.2bn.
The honours programme was set up in 2003 and its evaluation committee is totally independent and its members change every year.
Article posted on 15th June, 2009 - 2.30pm
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