YOUR OPTICIAN BUSINESS NEEDS LEGAL EXPERTISE - FIND IT HERE

An optician practice is a business - and, like any business, requires legal services.

It must be based on contractual arrangements. These contracts must be drawn up with staff, suppliers and landlords. Your terms of business with customers must be legally sound.

What’s more, when buying or selling a business, drawing up partners and lenders agreements must be legally watertight. Negotiating with public authorities and health trusts must all be supported by carefully worded agreements and knowledge of the procedures and protocols required.

Inevitably, you will need legal support to deal quickly and effectively with disputes as they arise. Expert understanding of the sector, and of the challenges and the relevant legal precedents that affect it, can be essential to arrive at swift conflict resolutions while minimising costs.

Having access to a wide range of legal advice is vital for the future of your practice.

The Rangewell Opticians Services Directory

At Rangewell we support the optician sector - and the practices that make it up. We have assembled a directory of people with the skills you need to support your optician business. So, if you need support, call us for details of the professionals who can help with expertise and services you need, which includes:

• Accountants
• Advisors
• Sales and acquisition agents
• Opticians' Equipment Suppliers
• Legal Services
• Media Services
• Partners
• Valuers

Optometrists and dispensing opticians are regulated health professionals, and bound by the statutory provisions of the Opticians Act 1989 and the regulations made under it.

They are also required to act under the edits of the General Optical Council and of the Association of Optometrists and Federation of Ophthalmic and Dispensing Opticians on practice or standards issues.

There can be conflict between the law and professional regulation. A legal professional working in the optician sector can provide expertise to help deal with this confusion when confusion arises.

In addition, they can provide essential help in a wide range of situations that include:

Property and business acquisition

Buying retail premises - or an existing business - is the foundation of your optician practice. Buying a property requires skilled legal oversight - buying a business, with the complications of staff contracts, existing contractual and legal obligations with residents, formal relationships with suppliers and local authorities is simply beyond the scope of most generalist legal professionals.

You need to be able to call on legal experts with a specialisation in the optician sector and familiarity with the issues and legislation involved to ensure that your business purchase can be problem free.

Understanding the issues and the steps that must be taken to safeguard your interests requires specialist expertise.

Complaint handling, commercial litigation & disputes

Running a business will inevitably mean that disputes are possible with suppliers and with customers. Expert legal representations can avoid such issues, helping you avoid financial liabilities and loss of professional reputation.

Dealing with complaints and with contractual disagreements on a legal basis can avoid escalation, and so actually reduce and disruption that would otherwise be caused. Experienced healthcare lawyers can provide specialist legal advice on all aspects of the legislative framework which regulates the provision of optical services, as well as on the contracts and documents which define the structure of your business.

Staffing

Employing staff opens the way to a wide range of employment issues ranging from discrimination to discipline, and litigation is always a possibility.

Professionally drawn-up employment contracts will be essential to help avoid disputes further down the line.

A good understanding of employment law will be essential - as will familiarity with pension rules, working hours and immigration.

Contract management

Your optician's practice will probably have a growing list of contracts with suppliers. Establishing these contracts on a sound legal basis will be vital to avoid trouble in the future if disputes arise.

A lawyer with an understanding of the sector will be able to draw up contracts which are fair and legally sound and unambiguous. Your practice will be on a firm and more businesslike footing and protected in the event of corporate and commercial breaches, negligence and other disputes.

Finding the legal specialists to support your opticians business

At Rangewell, we work with opticians across the UK. We help them secure the finance they need at every stage of their practice development, from their property or business acquisition and launch, to finding funding solutions to support everyday operations and growth.

This means that we work closely with many professionals serving the sector.

Please call us on 020 3936 0069 and we will be happy to introduce you to specialists in your region.

Joining the Rangewell Optician Services Directory

Are you a legal professional serving the optician sector? Please contact us to discuss being included in our directory listings. There is no charge for professionals who wish to be included in our ‘ecosystem’ listing.

Call us now on our Opticians Support Line on 020 3936 0069.