Celebrating the King's Coronation and our 95th anniversary at Leightons

As we all know, this week marks a momentous occasion for our country as the nation comes together to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III. But for us at Leightons, 2023 also marks another milestone: our 95th anniversary to be exact!

To commemorate this mammoth year, we’re taking a trip down memory lane to find out where it all started for us, the changes we’ve seen over 95 years, and what the future has in store for us as we step into a new era not only for Leightons but for the whole country.

Where it all began

We’re heading back in time to February 1928. King George V had been on the throne for 18 years and our founder, H. O. Leighton was about to take on his biggest challenge and open his very own practice - little did he know where that would lead 95 years later.

On the 20th February 1928, Mr Leighton opened the doors to the very first Leightons practice.

Things got off to a slow start, but on the fourth day after opening, Mr Leighton welcomed his first customer, Mrs Stephens, into the practice. It was this first transaction that will be forever remembered in Leightons history, as Mrs Stephens paid for her prescription with a single gold sovereign. This sovereign has become a symbol of hope and reflection for us at Leightons and is one of the most treasured pieces of our heritage.

Over the next 50 years Leightons grew and grew across the South of England with practices opening up in Reading, Totton, Sutton, Woodley, Cobham, Basingstoke, Poole and Thatcham - all of which are still open today!

95 years of change and innovation

We’ve seen a lot of change over the past 95 years, three generations of H. O. Leighton’s family, 23 Prime Ministers, four monarchs and now we celebrate the coronation of our fifth monarch, King Charles III.

We continued this trend of innovation and launched Leightons Hearing Care in 2006. The success of this later saw us merge the two businesses to become Leightons Opticians and Hearing Care as we know it today. But we didn’t stop there! In 2017 our sister company, The Hearing Care Partnership, was born, which has brought private hearing care services to over independent opticians and other healthcare venues up and down the country.

But the innovations didn’t stop there. Here at Leightons, we’ve continued to invest in the very latest technology and we are now proud to offer market-leading diagnostic and testing equipment across all 35 of our practices.

However, there’s one thing that has never changed and that is our dedication to delivering the very best patient-centred care, something we continue to pride ourselves on.

Here’s to the future

It’s at times like these when the nation is filled with pride that we can reflect on our rich heritage and feel extremely proud for what we have achieved over the years. But what next? Well, we’ve got BIG plans over the next few years.

We continue to work with industry-leading brands, across both the optical and hearing world, to bring you the very best options on the market and are constantly reviewing this with new releases.

Like King Charles, here at Leightons we are also focused on what we can do for the environment. It is something we are actively looking to improve every day - whether that's through the products we sell, the packages we send or even the paper we use.

Looking ahead as we move towards our centenary in 2028, we will continue to offer a comprehensive approach to eye and hearing care, integrating technology to enhance our personalised and patient-focused approach in providing expert care.

So as we start hanging our bunting and getting ready for street parties galore, let's raise a glass to the King's coronation and to our 95th birthday!

Now where did we put that cake?