DUNCAN and Todd has declared it is now the largest independent optical provider in Scotland after acquiring nine branches from peer Black & Lizars.
It is the sixth deal Aberdeen-based Duncan and Todd has concluded since LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group, paid £15 million for a majority stake in the group, fuelling its expansion plans. Fifteen branches have been added to the group since the LDC deal was struck in March 2018.
While the acquisition means Duncan and Todd now has nearly 40 practices across Scotland, taking it into seven towns and cities for the first time, Black & Lizars has retrenched to a portfolio of 13, based in Glasgow and Edinburgh and their suburbs.
READ MORE: Duncan & Todd acquires Dempsters Opticians weeks after Lloyds equity investment
Duncan and Todd said that all 56 staff have transferred to its operation as a result of the deal, taking its own headcount to 405.
The company noted that two Black & Lizars stores in Aberdeen will be rebranded as Duncan and Todd Opticians, while seven – in Perth, Stirling, Dalkeith, Haddington, Helensburgh, Ayr and Troon – will be relaunched under the 20 20 Opticians and Hearing Care brands.
Frances Rus, managing director of Duncan and Todd, said: “We are delighted to welcome our new colleagues from Black and Lizars to the Duncan and Todd Group. As long-established independent opticians of a similar size and offering, this was an ideal fit for us in terms of the services provided and the branch network.
“For patients, it will be business as usual and they will continue to be welcomed by the same teams they are familiar with but the location of the stores allows us to offer our integrated hearing and eye care services across a much wider expanse of Scotland, particularly in Perth and Stirling and around the west coast, which are all new locations for Duncan and Todd.”
Colin Bennett of LDC said it is “very rewarding to see the firm make its most significant acquisition to date.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here