Blenheim’s Andrea and Alan Brown, 2023 store award-winners Jennifer Robinson and Kim Bingham from Specsavers Dunedin and John Butler

Taking over the entire ICC Grand Ballroom in Sydney, 1,000 Specsavers ANZ store partners gathered to celebrate the optical chain’s 15th anniversary and five-year audiology partnership in Australia and New Zealand.

The full-day event featured panel discussions and business updates from Specsavers’ executive board followed by a black-tie party, hosted by Australian comedy duo Hamish Blake and Andy Lee. Specsavers ANZ managing director Paul Bott said the event was a chance for Specsavers’ Australian and New Zealand store partners to get together to learn, network and celebrate. “This year was the first time since 2019 that we were able to hold a partner seminar. It was fantastic to see old friends and colleagues reunited, as well as initiate the hundreds of partners who have joined us since 2019. The energy and passion throughout the day filled me with so much excitement for the years ahead.”

The gala dinner also provided an opportunity to announce the winners of the 2022 Specsavers Excellence Awards, recognising the partners who have gone above and beyond their everyday work to look after their customers, teams and communities, said Bott. The winning branches were:

• ANZ best place to work – Toowong, QLD
• ANZ loved by customers – Mt Gambier, SA
• NZ optics store of the year – Dunedin
• AU optics store of the year – Strathpine
• NZ audiology business of the year – Whanganui & Palmerston North
• AU audiology business of the year – Werribee

Specsavers ANZ managing director Paul Bott with Fred Hollows founding director Gabi Hollows and hosts for the evening, Australian comedy duo Hamish and Andy

This dinner also included a raffle and auction which raised more than AU$120,000 for The Fred Hollows Foundation, which was then topped up to $200,000 by Specsavers, pushing its overall contribution to the Pacific eyecare charity to $7million to date. In celebration of the partnership with Fred Hollows, a brooch featuring the foundation’s logo and the words ‘I’m carrying on Fred’s vision’ was presented to each store partner. The brooches will also be sent to all Specsavers store team members across the region in the next few weeks, according to the company.