Daventry store director Daljit raises glasses to 20 years at opticians

Daljit Purewal, who completed a degree in business and economics, was unsure what line of work to go into when he was 26.

His girlfriend worked as a dispensing optician and her colleagues were joining Specsavers to become joint venture partners. Daljit became interested in the work, and the potential to become a joint venture partner himself.

Rather than just pursue the opportunity from a retail perspective, Daljit was keen to ensure that he understood every element of the business – both the clinical and business aspects.

He decided to apply to study optometry at Aston University. After a year's conversion course, he completed the three-year optical degree. He completed his pre-registration at Specsavers Walsall, where he spent four years, before a year at the West Bromwich store.

The opportunity then came up to open and run the Daventry store, so Daljit, who had by then completed the relevant Specsavers store director programme, began his director journey.

Fellow optical director Satvinder Soomal joined him in 2016 and then in 2018 the partnership opened a sister store in Towcester.

He said: "There's nothing I'd rather do.

"I love my work. Of course, it has its challenges, but we’re fortunate to have two great teams who are an amazing support and make our work even more satisfying.

‘I get a real buzz from the continual strive to do our best job and to make all our customers’ journeys the best they can be.

"It’s hard to think it’s been 20 years, and I’m not hanging up my boots just yet!’