an increase of revenue by more than 100% year on year. Outcry resulted from this report due not only to SpecSavers not requiring the full subsidy, but also that the profits which were sourced from tax contributions in Australia were immediately directed offshore to SpecSavers headquarters in the known tax haven of Guernsey. Another cause for public condemnation was SpecSavers had only repaid A$4 million, when other companies like Cochlear, CIMIC and Mirvac had already repaid larger amounts while still taking a hit in their revenues. Business strategy and future The Perkins have stated that they intend to maintain family control of the firm, which currently employs two of their three children in senior roles. Continued expansion into Europe is planned. It is also intended that the company will continue to supply hearing aids. The Perkins attribute their success to their franchise model, and to the deregulation of the UK Opticians market by the Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, allowing opticians to use previously forbidden advertising and marketing techniques to rapidly take over a market that had belonged to independent local opticians. The Perkins have said of the remaining local opticians that "their days are numbered", and in fact their major competition now comes from large chains such as Boots Opticians and Vision Express. In February 2016, it was announced that Specsavers would be the sponsors of the County Championship cricket competition in England and Wales, for the next four years; a deal which was extended in 2018 to include Test series held in England including the 2019 Ashes series. In January 2017, Specsavers were in negotiation to have shops undertake certain front line medical care linked to sight and hearing, in both the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. In May 2020, Specsavers announced a plan to cut 450 jobs amid a "dramatic downturn" caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. The company had previously tried to avoid making redundancies by implementing pay cuts and reducing working hours. References External links Retail companies of the United Kingdom Eyewear retailers of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1984 Retail companies established in 1984 Eyewear retailers of Australia Eyewear retailers of New Zealand Private providers of NHS services Eyewear companies of the United Kingdom