A Bigger Competitor for Specsavers

Boots Opticians has announced that it is to merge with Dollond & Aitchison, creating what will be the second largest chain of opticians in the UK. Assuming that the deal gets the green light from the Competition Commission, then the market leader Specsavers will find itself competing with a much larger Boots Opticians.

The combined business, which will trade as Boots Opticians, will have around 690 practices, including around 210 franchises, and will directly employ more than 5,000 people. The Dollond & Aitchison name will gradually disappear from the high street. This merger is is subject to the approval of the competition authorities.

By comparison, Specsavers has more than 1300 stores across the Channel Islands, UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Spain, Australia and New Zealand. Specsavers turnover for 2008 was £1.2bn. According to this brief article on Specsavers:

“Specsavers has grown from nothing to having a market share of 39 per cent, not through acquisition but by sticking to its core business.”

By my rough calculations, the leading two opticians chains will have a combined market share of around 60% (Specsavers 40%, Boots/D&A 20%), with the rest of the market remaining pretty fragmented. According to my quick search of companies at Companies House, there are over 900 companies registered as providing optician services.