The Optical Suppliers Association (OSA) held its AGM and luncheon on Friday 10 December in the Bloomsbury Hotel, London, where members and optical guests saw Stuart Burn pass the chairman’s medal on to Andy Hepworth.
Stuart Burn addressed the annual lunch on his term as chair of the OSA and thanked the increased membership for being “marvellous” throughout the challenging two years. He noted that members supported the chair and board on a number of difficult decisions that had to be made including: selling the London HQ, the name change from Federation of Manufacturing Opticians to OSA, and the sale of Optrafair.
Stuart underlined how important it now was to have one optical show for the industry and thanked Media 10 for its partnership as well as its, “professionalism, flexibility, help and support.” He also thanked the OSA board for its dedication to the organiation.
He welcomed new board members including: Jayne Abel, Rob Barrow and Laura Haverley. Two directors stepped down from the board and Stuart noted Andrew Sanders’ and Andrew Yorke’s vast experience and dedication to the OSA.
Rob Barrow said: “Joining the board of the OSA as vice chair of the Frames Focus Group is an honour. I am looking forward to proactively engaging with buyers and suppliers during my term.”
Janice English, the chair of the Wiseman Memorial Fund – “a cause that was always close to the hearts of the OSA” – was presented with a donation and the chair remarked on the good work the Fund continued to do for the optical industry.
The chain of office was then passed from Stuart to Andy Hepworth. Stuart told those gathered how Andy had “worked tirelessly and provided support in his role of vice chair over the last two years”.
Andy thanked Stuart for his time as chair and told him that what he had delivered while at the helm of OSA was “something he should be proud of”.
Before the lunch finished, Stuart stated that it was an honour and privilege to serve the OSA. He concluded by saying how important it was to work collaboratively in this “wonderful, diverse, interesting and engaging profession of optics”.
Andy Hepworth will serve as OSA chair until December 2023. Roy Stoner will serve as vice chair for the same period.