Specsavers are the UK’s leading eye health care brand (and the world’s largest privately owned optical group). With over 30,000 employees, they continually attract talented people to their business but face a very specific set of challenges within early careers:

• Shortage of optometrists in remote locations
• Lack of awareness among students, teachers, and parents about career opportunities within the optics industry.

Having worked with Specsavers for over 10 years, in both employed and consultant roles, Gemma successfully developed and shaped Specsavers’ first early careers optics programme – from strategy right through to campaign implementation. Key results include:

• Engaged stakeholders across the business to establish exact requirements
• Developed a multi-channel early careers programme aimed at ages 13 to 19 and rolled out across 1,000 UK stores – directly reaching over 90,000 students, teachers and parents per annum.
• Delivered early careers insight sessions and ‘train the trainer’ workshops to over 2,000 partners
• Built relationships with schools, universities and education leaders to ensure Specsavers was recognised as a STEM employer
• Delivered and led event plan including Specsavers first ‘Big Bang’ exhibition
• Communicated Specsavers’ quality benchmark and standards by providing on-campus employability support
• Successfully built a pipeline of talented, highly skilled optometrists in key locations throughout the UK – directly contributing to the recruitment of over 750 optometry graduates per annum.