New president for ABDO

Kevin receives the chain of office from Daryl Newsome

Kevin Gutsell FBDO (Hons) SLD became the new president of ABDO during a ceremony held on Thursday 9 May at the Association’s National Resource Centre (NRC) in Birmingham.

Kevin’s career in optics spans 40 years. He qualified as a dispensing optician in 1987, working in practice before joining Alcon in 1996 as an area account manager. In 1998 he joined Nikon Optical UK and worked in roles in sales, marketing and professional services until 2013. He now runs Optical Centre Supplies, supplying CentroStyle products in the UK.

Kevin has also been a distance learning tutor for ABDO College since 1992, the ABDO representative on the Spectacle Lens Committee at the British Standards Institute since April 2014, and has been a member of education visitor panels of the General Optical Council since 2016. He has served as editor of ABDO’s Ophthalmic Lens Availability Online since 2021 and an ABDO Board member for most of the last 14 years.

At the ceremony, Kevin thanked outgoing president, Daryl Newsome, for his dedication and hard work during the two years that he held the post, and then handed over the vice presidency to Brenda Rennie.

Kevin said: “I would like to thank the ABDO Board for allowing me the privilege of becoming the president of ABDO and I look forward to working with current and future directors.

With the new vice president, Brenda Rennie

“I very much look forward to working with the new vice president, Brenda Rennie, and forging the style of leadership and teamwork which the immediate past president has afforded me during the last two years.”

Kevin will serve as ABDO president until April 2026, before handing over the chain of office to Brenda Rennie.

As immediate past president, Daryl will become an advisor to the ABDO Board for a period of two years.