Optical Express Saved by founder/CEO David Moulsdale

"Optical Express - Jan 2015 growth prospects surveyed as being insecure."
dg-di.eu/OM/UK/678525.htm

I would say they're significantly more than insecure

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With Scottish politicians like Alex Salmond and Gordon Brown on his side, CEO David Moulsdale tries to paint a respectable face on Optical Express and present it as something we all know it's not, a caring company!

See: www.opticalexpress.co.uk/blog/news/optic...peal.html#more-68261

"The STV Appeal was established by STV and the Hunter Foundation…".

And it was an unlucky person who won this:
"The company also donated a treatment voucher with a value of £4,000 to the STV Appeal Grand Online Charity Auction..."

In 2013:
"Hunter put up some of the money that enabled the founder, David Moulsdale, to hang on to the optician and laser eye surgery chain after Royal Bank of Scotland threatened to seize control.”
www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/Re...e/article1295958.ece

The multimillion dollar question remains, what’s in it for Tom Hunter

It seems David Moulsdale's dream of world domination went down with the Tokyo moon yesterday.

Approx 4 years ago Optical Express bought ailing Kobe Kanagawa Eye Clinic chain in Japan.
www.kobe-kanagawa.jp/english/

The Wee Shugster (aka Hugh Kerr, General Ops Director) arrived in Japan yesterday with a team of Optical Express senior staff, including HR Advisor Fiona Morton, to close the remaining five Kobe Kanagawa stores, strip their assets (allegedly) and tiptoe out of Japan before anyone notices.

Sound familiar?

I trust they took empty suitcases

www.facebook.com/OpticalExpressRuinedMyLife

admin wrote: www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/Re...-standard-2013_08_04

"Hunter put up some of the money that enabled the founder, David Moulsdale, to hang on to the optician and laser eye surgery chain after Royal Bank of Scotland threatened to seize control. The bank, which had already lent £30m, became concerned that the business was spiralling out of control after Moulsdale asked for an emergency loan to pay wages.

Hunter, whose fortune was ravaged by the financial crisis, is understood to have lent Moulsdale roughly half the money needed to buy out RBS. It is thought the bank’s loans were acquired for a fraction of their face value."

www.theguardian.com/business/2013/nov/25...ndent-lending-review
Something is rotten in the state of [strike]Denmark [/strike]Scotland!

we had to use another directors PERSONAL credit card as the company one was maxed out totally and would not get paid for another month....it had been paid off one day then maxed the next!!

April 2013 Optical Express advertised: "Laser Eye Surgery from only £395 per eye"

Since September 2013 Optical Express now advertising "Laser Eye Surgery from only £795 per eye"

My maths are not brilliant but this looks like Optical Express have increased their prices by 100% in less than 6 months!

This suggests Optical Express are in very serious financial trouble since CEO David Moulsdale bought his company's £10 million debt from the RBS.

I would advise anyone considering treatment with OE to think carefully as their "lifetime guarantee" could be short lived!

www.bpf.org.uk/en/newsroom/press_release...solvency_process.php

www.heraldscotland.com/business/company-...turing-move.22300969

"OPTICAL Express Group has reported a £15.1 million pre-tax loss for its most recent financial year and says a plan to put a subsidiary into administration is the final piece in its restructuring jigsaw.

Founder David Moulsdale unveiled the intention to appoint an administrator for DCM Optical Clinic and then buy back 16 of the 19 stores in a move which is not expected to lead to any job losses."

How many times can he get away with this?!

Look at the photo, isn't it the same building /Airedale House/ Ultralase Leeds was located years ago?
Doomed place.

(Repost from OERML FB)
Optical Express recently vacated their Leeds town centre premier site (next to Harvey Nichols) and downsized to a 6th floor serviced office on the other side of town. The only indication of OE's presence is a laminated A4 sign stuck to the wall.

Yet in July, a spokesman for David Moulsdale told the media: "We have been in positive discussions for some time with RBS and have reached an amicable agreement on a deal that will secure the long-term future and expansion of the Optical Express Group. David has agreed to acquire the entire debt owed to RBS by Optical Express and will inject significant workingcapital into the group, positioning it in a highly secure position for continued growth."
www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/80...ebt-payment.21666492

Expansion? Growth?