Newsome’s Notes

Daryl in one of his practices

It is a great honour and a pleasure to write this, my first column as ABDO’s newly elected president.

Because I still work in practice on a regular basis, I feel I genuinely understand what our members do at grassroots level – and the challenges they face. Of course, being president means taking time out of practice to fulfil other roles, and I couldn’t do this without the support of an amazing group of staff to whom I will be forever grateful.

As an organisation, I believe ABDO is in a strong position. Through the last couple of years, our management and heads of department have been frugal. ABDO resources realised from the sale of 199 Gloucester Terrace have been held safely while our senior managers sought investment opportunities to present to our board of directors. Good leadership and clear thinking have left our organisation robust and ready for the future.

ABDO is a dynamic organisation, changing and developing all the time. I am genuinely excited by the future and see great opportunities for our members being developed by our staff. I foresee improvements in training, enhanced scope of practice and a real participation in the development of the optical landscape of the UK.

We are working on more opportunities for members to be involved and engaged. Combined with a strong team of directors, I sit as chair of the ABDO board. This is a time of huge change as we prepare to see our CEO, Tony Garrett, retiring at the end of this year after 20 years in the role.

I will be learning to work with our new CEO, Alistair Bridge, while maintaining ABDO’s presence in the optical landscape – representing members and our board of directors in line with our stated purpose from our five-year strategic plan and with our annual plan for 2022.

I look forward to meeting more members, collaborating with our fellow professions, and being part of the development of the optical industry.