Mary Perkins

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mary Perkins

Born	February 14, 1944 Bristol
Residence	Guernsey
Nationality	British
Title	Dame Commander
Known for	Founder of Specsavers

Dame Mary Perkins (born 1944) is co-founder and a senior executive of Specsavers, a leading bricks and mortar United Kingdom eyeglass company, and was made a Dame in 2007. She was born on February 14, 1944 and is the wife of Specsavers co-founder and chairman Doug Perkins, with whom she has had three children, all of whom work for Specsavers and are eventually expected to take over the privately owned company.^[1]

1 Early life
2 Specsavers
3 Awards
4 References

[edit] Early life

Perkins went to Fairfield Grammar School in Bristol. She then went to Cardiff University to train as an optometrist. At Cardiff, Mary met Doug Perkins who was to become her husband. The couple set up their first business in Bristol in the 1960s. This was a chain of opiticians set up around Bristol which they sold for £2 million in 1980. The couple continue to live off their original investment in this business. After selling the business the couple moved to Guernsey where Mary Perkin's father had retired.^[1]

[edit] Specsavers

Mary and Doug Perkins set up Specsavers in Guernsey in 1984. In 2007 it was the largest privately owned opticians in the world with nearly 900 stores across the UK and Europe.^[2] Her current job title at Specsavers is "founder". Dame Mary sits on the company board, oversees business development and has particular responsibility for running PR. She has also admitted donning disguises (especially wigs) to visit Specsavers stores posing as a customer.^[1]

[edit] Awards

Perkins was made an honorary fellow of Cardiff University in 2005. The same year she received the Rotary International Community and Vocational Service Award for her services to charity and in 2006 won the inaugural Spirit of everywoman Award. Mary Perkins was the first female optician in the United Kingdom to receive the title of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. It was awarded in recognition of her services to business and to the community in Guernsey. After receiving the accolade Dame Mary commented:

I am absolutely thrilled, as you can imagine. This is a huge honour, not just for me but for everyone at Specsavers, as we all work as a team to give our customers what they want – quality, value for money professional eyecare. This makes me even more determined to passionately pursue the path we set ourselves 25 years ago and to continue to serve the British public.^[2]

The accolade was also in recognition of her other charity work including the Guernsey annual "Specsavers Liberation Tea Dance for pensioners", and her directorship of Women's Refuge and Age Concern.^[3]