Eye Care for the Future - Spotlight on Designs for Vision

Designs for Vision (DFV) is a leading provider of diagnostic and surgical ophthalmic products in Australasia, sourcing the highest quality products from a global network of specialist eye care manufacturers.  DFV currently represents over 50 companies to a wide range of medical and para-medical disciplines.

Designs for Vision was established in 1978 by optical dispenser Richard Grills to distribute eye care products throughout Australia.  In 2011, DFV was taken over by Richard’s son Brad Grills and business partner Nik Apostolou, and the company was acquired by Paragon Care in 2015.  Brad and Nik are the General Managers at Designs for Vision and they remain substantial shareholders in Paragon Care. They discuss the competitive advantages of DFV, give further insight into the growth opportunities ahead and explain the benefits in joining Paragon Care.

Brad: Designs for Vision was founded over 40 years ago and one of our core strengths is the long-term relationships with both clients and suppliers, which is directly correlated to the long tenure of our staff.  In fact, we believe that we have the longest tenured staff in the industry!  The strength of these relationships means that we often receive inbound enquires to represent new technologies in Australia as they trust us to represents them well in this market.

Nik: This was highlighted over the past year during the COVID-19 pandemic as travel restrictions prevented our sales reps from travelling to major eye care conferences, but we were still able to acquire multiple new contracts in surgical eyecare and capital equipment from European suppliers.

Brad: A major focus in the year ahead is on expanding our already significant market share in intraocular lenses, which are implants for cataract surgery.  There are approximately 250,000 cataracts procedures performed each year and we see opportunities to expand in this large and growing sector.

Nik: Our strategic rationale in joining Paragon Care in 2016 was to benefit from their corporate infrastructure, so that we could focus on doing what we do best, which is leveraging our expertise in the eye care market to bring world class technologies to the Australian market.

Brad: Over the past decade, we observed industry changes, in terms of the corporatisation of private hospital groups and the emergence of large commercial players in the eye care market, including SpecSavers.  We believed that we could compete more effectively as part of a larger corporate entity.  We are now on track to double our revenue since joining Paragon Care, so overall it has been a huge success for us.

Nik: Overall, we are very energised to be working with a great team of business owners, like us, across different healthcare verticals.  We believe this team collaboration combined with deep industry expertise ensures Paragon Care is well positioned for growth over the years ahead.

Click here to learn more about Designs for Vision