15 August 2024
Leightons Opticians and Hearing Care is relaunching its joint venture partner (JVP) programme, with a focus on recruiting clinically ambitious and commercially-minded optometrists and dispensing opticians to become business owners.
The organisation’s ambition is to connect with practitioners who want to “push the envelope on clinical service,” Leightons’ chief executive, Ryan Leighton, told OT.
The group is looking for new partners who can drive their practices forward, whilst remaining at the heart of their local communities.
Leightons has operated through a 100% franchise model for the past 25 years, and embarked on its first joint venture partnership with a practice in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, in 2013.
The retirement of the Marlow practice owner has provided the business with an opportunity to rethink how its JVP offering works, Leighton shared.
The practice, Leightons Insight Marlow, will soon be seeking a new owner.
Leightons also has an imminent opportunity for a JVP to join the newly-relocated Raxworthy Opticians & Hearing Care in Christchurch, Dorset.
An optometrist or dispensing optician is being sought to take on and build the business within the Christchurch community over the next decade and onwards, Leighton said.
Further expansion
Leighton also emphasised that Leightons’ JVP plans include moving out of the group’s existing 35 practices, working with established business owners in new locations, with a JVP soon to available in Hertfordshire.
The refreshed JVP offering will include a full suite of back-office support, with full financial support including profit and loss, cash flows and PAYE; digital and offline marketing and patient recall; learning and development, including annual CPD events and access to a full suite of online learning; IT support; HR and advisory services; buying power, and in-practice support from the Leightons team.
Mobile dispensing, optometry and optical assistant support is also offered by the Leightons mobile team, Pulse.
The group’s aim is to provide new partners with “all the support they need to give the best service possible to patients,” Leighton said.
The level of support offered will “give partners the time back to do what they do best, which is to build an amazing team and patient experience,” he added.
Leighton described the offering as a “one plus one equals five scenario, where the practitioner and Leightons work as true partners, each bringing immensely valuable attributes.”
The new model will be different from a franchise opportunity because rather than a percentage of sales and royalty fees being paid to Leightons, it involves a fixed management fee and a market rated salary for the practitioner, with future profits split via the percentage that each partner has.
Leightons will work with incoming partners and support them through the process, including where required working together to raise some of the funds needed for the buy-in.
Leighton added that the new model is focused on “optimising the opportunities that we’ve got, and learning from each other.”
The group wants to “continue to move the envelope of what we provide from a clinical point of view,” Leighton told OT.
He noted that recent successes at Leightons include rolling out Optomap and video slit lamps across all practices, as well as increased investment in myopia management and dry eye services, including the recent launch of Intense Pulsed Light therapy.
Investing in the right areas at the right time will allow Leightons and their partners to align with the very best independent practices on the market, Leighton said.
He added that the relaunch of the JVP programme is designed to attract people with the same vision: “natural pioneers, who push us as well as us pushing them.”
Leighton emphasised that those joining the group under the new JVP model should not expect a “cookie cutter” experience.
Instead, it is about giving new partners professional freedom, Leighton said.
“To become market leading, we need to be doing pioneering things,” he added.
Comments (0)
You must be logged in to join the discussion. Log in