Having been finalists three years ago, we returned having grown stronger and with more of an idea of what the judges were looking for. We expanded our trading area overseas and refined our key messages to get across our company vision, values and purpose - to supply professional service with a complete range of eye health products to benefit those with dry eyes, blepharitis and macular degeneration.
This strategy worked because we won Small Business of the Year and we were ecstatic to achieve this prestigious accolade. In presenting the award, Adrian Lockwood gave praise by commenting on how we had begun early exporting and had found a novel use for e-commerce. Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP) who sponsored the award, was launched in 2011 and is responsible for championing and developing the Oxfordshire economy. Working with businesses, academia and the public sector, OxLEP is helping to drive economic development across the county.
We were also impressed by our fellow nominees for Business Person of the Year, Carbody Banbury who had sprayed the cars for 007 in the James Bond film Spectre and felt sure they would win as a result.
We attended the awards with our office team Julie, Kirsty, Tracy and Andrea along with Karen, Suzanne and Becky from Pick Pack Despatch who process our orders and Jody Fletcher from Chilli Promotional Products who supplies our branded merchandise. We had a lovely three course dinner and a bottle of bubbly together which made an enjoyable change from our usual day-to-day telephone and email exchanges.
Michelle Lewis from our Banbury Chamber of Commerce did a fantastic job organising the event with the sponsors and setting up the marquee with her team. We met up with a few of our local business friends and supporters;
All in all it was a great night for Oxfordshire businesses, here is a photo of all the winners.
Here is some help for annoying eye floaters. We are asked about these a lot in the office by customers. Also, as an optician, James sees many patients with 'floaters' in their eyes. These are annoying particles or threads that appear to float across our line of vision throughout the day.
As we welcome in 2023, it is a good time to reflect on what we can all do in our general life to help maintain healthy eyes.
We came away with two 'gongs': GOLD in the Best New Lip Product category for our Eye Care Cosmetics Nourishing lip balm; and HIGHLY COMMENDED in the Best New Eye or Brows Product category for our Eye Care Cosmetics Intense mascara.
“As a pharmacist I regularly offer advice on using eye drops, vitamins and hypo-allergenic skincare and cosmetics.”
Michelle Sutton (BPharm MRPharmS)
Founder of Butterflies Eyecare
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