Optical Express bucks the economic trend

Optical Express, the eye clinic chain run by David Moulsdale, the millionaire Scottish entrepreneur, is to create 300 new jobs as it continues to expand, bucking the economic trend.

Some 200 of those posts will be created in a new call centre that opened in Glasgow in November last year. The centre in West George Street replaces the small call-handling operation run from its headquarters in Cumbernauld.

The company will create a further 100 jobs, including 24 in Scotland, through its continued practice expansion. Half of the 100 posts will support the optical side of the business in Europe while the rest, mainly in Britain, will be in dentistry, cosmetic surgery, orthopaedic and ophthalmology.

The news came as the group reported an unaudited operating profit of £13m for last year, amounting to a small drop of £400,000 from the record high of the previous 12 months. Preliminary figures for last year also show turnover was expected to crash through the £200m barrier for the first time last year. Sales are expected to be £208m for 2008 - a 15% rise on the previous year.

Mr Moulsdale, 39, said: "Our core business is the optical retailing business, and most people buy new glasses or have contact lenses by necessity rather than seeing it as a luxury or discretionary purchase. It is not quite recession proof but it is certainly more robust than other businesses in a recession."

Last month Optical Express tripled the size of one of its stores in Livingston. It agreed to lease a new 3893 sq ft unit within Elements Square. Mr Moulsdale, who left school at 16 to work in an opticians, founded Optical Express in 1990.