To celebrate our 20th birthday this month, we caught up with a few of our friendly and hard-working Glasses Direct employees. Find out what brands and designs of glasses the team love to wear and what they enjoy most about working for Glasses Direct. We also reveal what they think about Glasses Direct as the UK’s leading online eyewear brand and its success over the last 20 years.
Check out this video of some of our employees’ answers:
Alan Moscrop, Chief Marketing Officer
How long have you been working for Glasses Direct?
I’ve been with the business now for almost 16 years.
What do you most enjoy about working for the company?
What I’ve really enjoyed about working for this company is that over that time, we’ve brought in a lot of employees who are very like-minded in the way they enjoy the passion of changing the way that people buy their glasses in the UK. So, being part of that evolution of the eyewear industry. A lot of those ideas that we’ve had from people over the years are still in use by the business today. It’s that one-team approach that I really enjoy about working here.
What do you think makes Glasses Direct stand out amongst the competition?
I think one of the biggest things that makes us stand out is that we’ve continually strived to give the customer the best experience when it comes to buying their glasses. We’re always looking to improve as a business and we have to give the customers a real reason to keep coming back.
We’ve been going for 20 years and some of those customers who came in the first few years are still buying from us today. You can only do that if you’re giving them a real reason to come back. One of the things we do as a business is that we ask every customer to rate us after they’ve bought their glasses from Glasses Direct. We use that feedback to help us improve going forward and learn about how we can be better at what we do.
Iris Lillington, Senior Content & DX Executive
How long have you been working for Glasses Direct?
I’ve been with the company for 10 years this year, though I initially worked on a different site owned by MyOptique Group.
What do you most enjoy about working for the company?
One of the best things about working for Glasses Direct is that it’s always evolving. I’ve learned so much about the world of business over the years. And having the chance to do a lot of different jobs, as business requirements change, has kept my work interesting and engaging.
What do you think makes Glasses Direct stand out amongst the competition?
I think we’ve got the most years of experience selling online and it shows, because we’ve tried it all and know what works. New competitors pop up all the time, but you often don’t know what you’re getting with them, or they’ll have ideas that, while neat in the short term, are not financially sustainable.
Do you love shopping with Glasses Direct yourself?
Before I started working here I wore the same pair of glasses for almost a decade. Now I get a couple of new ones every year!
If so, do you have a favourite pair of glasses you love to wear?
Obviously that always changes, but my current favourite are my Scout Dakota frames. People keep thinking they’re Kate Spade!
How do you style your glasses for different occasions and with different outfits?
I mostly go by colour, trying to match the frame to my clothes, while the shape is more an expression of my mood in terms of whether I go for understated or bold.
Nina Williams-Barrow, Head of Growth Marketing
How long have you been working for Glasses Direct?
I’ve been with Glasses Direct for five years now.
What do you most enjoy about working for the company?
Two things – the products and the people. The product range is amazing! There is something for absolutely everyone. If you like something trendy or if you’re on a budget, you can find something that suits just what you need. And the people, the team is amazing. They are fully professional and everyone is just so passionate about what they do. It’s really nice working with everyone.
What do you think makes Glasses Direct stand out amongst the competition?
It’s the fact that we have something for absolutely everyone. You can find something for every budget, every style and every mood. You can get two frames for the price of one so you can have something for your every style and every mood. Or, you can just share your frame with your family and friends.
Do you love shopping with Glasses Direct yourself?
Oh, definitely! I have got a lot of glasses. The best thing about working here is that you can style yourself in so many different ways, whatever your mood is. If you want to wear something a little bit trendier, you can choose a trendy frame. Or, if you want a more classic look then you can choose something that suits that.
If so, do you have a favourite pair of glasses you love to wear?
I’ve got several favourite pairs. I’ve got so many and I love them all but I would say the London Retro Fulwell ones are my favourite. They combine metal and acetate which I really like because you get the best of both worlds.
How do you style your glasses for different occasions and with different outfits?
So, in the morning when I wake up, I choose my glasses like I choose my clothes. So, something that suits my mood, suits my style for that day. It’s not like every day you want to wear the same thing, so it’s good to have options that you can wear. I love Aspire Floss because they have a classic style but they have that little bit of something extra, that little quirky edge.
Clara Bauéb, PR & Social Media Manager
How long have you been working for Glasses Direct?
I’ve been working for the company for six and a half years.
What do you most enjoy about working for the company?
There are many things. The main one for me is the team. I just love working with everybody. Everyone is brilliant and very helpful. We’re like a big family. I know it sounds cheesy but that is true!
What do you think makes Glasses Direct stand out amongst the competition?
I would say, it’s very good value for money. The quality is 100%, price and range. Plus, you have loads of options to choose from.
Do you love shopping with Glasses Direct yourself?
Guilty! Yes, very much so.
If so, do you have a favourite pair of glasses you love to wear?
I have a few. The London Retro Balham, for sure. kate spade new york Zahra is one of my favourites. This Gucci one I’m wearing, which is very old. I think it’s more than five years old. It’s a limited-edition colour. Yes, I have quite a few.
How do you style your glasses for different occasions and with different outfits?
It depends. I don’t wear accessories, so I have many glasses. Six and a half years is a lot! I try to go with how I’m feeling. So I have many different shapes, different colours. I usually wear a lot of black and neutral colours so I try to style a bit more with my frames.
Bjorn Thomassen, CRM Manager
How long have you been working for Glasses Direct?
I’ve been with Glasses Direct for a year and a half now. I think it’s my half-year anniversary next week.
What do you most enjoy about working for the company?
I feel like it’s such a cliché to say it, but the people. I think it’s a brilliant team that we work in. The wider marketing team and my little CRM team are great as well. Everyone is really passionate about what they do. They know their area of expertise really well and I think we collaborate really well as a team and with other teams too. So, definitely the people and the talent I would say.
What do you think makes Glasses Direct stand out amongst the competition?
I think it’s a mixture of all the unique selling points we have as a company. All the ranges of products we have. There is something for everyone, whether you’re after a budget frame or you want to go for something more premium from the Premium Designer range that we have. Also, the fact that we have got 20 years of experience now and we’ve got the free Home Trial. We have a whole load of qualified opticians checking every order too and I think all the content we produce helps you have a good buying experience. The great customer service that we offer on top of that. I think it’s just a really straight-forward and enjoyable shopping experience online for our customers.
Do you love shopping with Glasses Direct yourself?
Yeah, I do. I really like how easy it is to browse for whatever it is that you’re looking for. So, whether you’re after a particular shape of a frame, or a particular colour, or a style. The range as well, it’s really easy to browse using the site filters that we have. And even if I do say so myself, we’re really good at the offers that we have as well. There’s always an offer to take so that you can get a good deal on your glasses.
If so, do you have a favourite pair of glasses you love to wear?
I’ve got too many pairs! My partner is always telling me off whenever I get another one. I really like the pair I’ve got on today FT5629 from Tom Ford. They look quite casual but they are still smart. I’ve got another pair from Tom Ford which are more like a statement pair of glasses that are black. They were worn by Colin Firth in a film called A Single Man. That’s where I saw them and I was like, oh I need those. I also really like my Waterhaul Crantock. I’ve got Transitions® XTRActive® lenses in them. So, they change in all visible light. They’re really good for dog walks, which I do a lot of, because they just adjust according to how much sunshine there is. They are also really good for driving as well. The frame has a slightly unusual colour too that I wouldn’t normally go for.
How do you style your glasses for different occasions and with different outfits?
It’s interesting because I often decide the night before what I’m going to wear the next day, but I always leave my glasses for the day because I feel it really ties to how you’re feeling on the day. It’s that last final touch to your appearance, so I always leave that last minute. I think it depends on what colours I’m wearing on the day and how I’m feeling.
The beauty of wearing glasses is that sometimes you can go for quite a bold frame to hide behind if you’re feeling a bit tired and you want to have a bit of a shield to the outside world. Or, if you’re feeling bold, you can go for more colourful pairs. So, it very much depends on what I’m wearing that day and what mood I’m in. I think mood is probably the biggest factor for me.
