Express & Star

JCB has sights set on new market thanks to Specsavers

Staffordshire digger maker JCB has its sights set on a new market after launching a range of branded prescription safety glasses with leading high street chain Specsavers.

Published
Backhoe loader assembly operative Brett Archer tries out the new JCB safety glasses

JCB already licences around 50 companies which sell millions of products bearing the JCB name each year, from batteries and tools to toys and mobile phone cases.

Now the company has teamed up with Specsavers Corporate Eyecare to launch the safety eye wear – with great success.

Senior JCB licensing manager Paul Tudor, who is based at JCB’s World HQ, in Rocester, Staffordshire, said: “The reaction to the launch has been fantastic with thousands of pairs of the JCB safety glasses sold already. We worked very closely with Specsavers on the designs and we are delighted with the results.”

A total of 20 JCB frames are being made available in men’s, women’s and unisex designs under the licensing agreement between the two companies. They are available from Specsavers’ UK stores with metal and polycarbonate frames with a wide choice of lenses suitable for a range of industrial settings. They come complete with side shields bearing the famous JCB logo. By the end of the year all 1,700-plus Specsavers stores globally will offer the JCB range.

Specsavers Corporate Eyecare's director of strategic alliances, Jim Lythgow, said: “We have subjected more than 440 pairs of prescription safety glasses to extremely rigorous tests. As you would expect from Specsavers and JCB, these glasses are tough."