LOC Support Unit Board Members

Alan Tinger - Chairman

Alan is a Chartered Accountant and a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute.    

In optics he is currently a Consultant to Optical Businesses, Treasurer of the Federation of Ophthalmic & Dispensing Opticians, Advisor to the General Optical Council, Finance & Procedure Committee and Chairman of the LOC Support Unit. He was formerly Finance Director of Miller & Santhouse Plc, a Stock Exchange Listed Company and the then third largest chain of Opticians which was sold to Boots Opticians in 1990 and Managing Director and part owner of Galaxy Optical Services Limited, Suppliers and Consultants to Tesco Opticians.

Outside optics he is currently a Non-Executive Director of a number of Companies, Chairman of a Registered Housing Association and Trustee of several Welfare Charities. He has been Managing Director of a Listed Company and Partner in a Firm of Chartered Accountants.

Alan Lester

Alan qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1973 and is Company Secretary of the LOC Support Unit.

He is the Head of Finance at the Association of Optometrists having taken up this position in 2000.

After qualifying he joined Peat Marwick Mitchell and also worked with London firm, Moore Stephens on a variety of audit assignments .

Prior to taking up his current position he spent 18 years as   Finance Director of a company handling marine insurance claims via a network of offices throughout the world   and providing technical support to the London insurance market.

Bob Hughes AOP Chief Executive

Bob Hughes has been Chief Executive of the Association of Optometrists (AOP) since the beginning of 2005 having served for seven years in the same position at the Federation of Ophthalmic and Dispensing Opticians (FODO).  

He played a key role in the establishment of the new School of Optometry at Anglia Ruskin University in 1998, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Science by the University.          

Previously he was the Conservative Member of Parliament for Harrow West and served in Government as a Whip and as Cabinet Office Junior Minister for Science, Public Services and the Civil Service

Before that he worked in Film and Television as an Editor and Director.

David Hewlett

David is Chief Executive of the Federation of Ophthalmic and Dispensing Opticians which represents most of the UK optical market.   Before that he worked for 20 years in central government primarily in the Departments of Health and Social Security where he was the senior policy- maker on family health services, GP commissioning, A Primary Care Led NHS and National Health Service Frameworks.   Prior to that David had trained as a medieval linguist lecturing at Montpellier and Cambridge Universities.   He has a background in and experience of small business.

Georgina Gordon

Georgina was appointed as the first Head of the LOC Support Unit in September 2007. She has a substantial track record in the NHS having held both clinical and general management Board level positions in a number of major organisations. Her clinical background includes qualifications in general nursing, mental health nursing and she is a specialist in oncology. She obtained an MBA from Westminster University completing the programme in a year whilst working full time. Her most recent position was as a Director of Commissioning in London.

Mike Cody

Mike is a contact lens optician with 20 years experience in optics.

He manages the contact lens business for an independent, family-owned group.

He is a past director of the ABDO and also sits on Staffordshire loc as the ABDO representative.

He also organises  CET for ABDO area 5.

Robin Banks

Robin has been AOP councillor for Kent and S.E. London since 1998. Recently retired from full time independent practice he continues to work as a locum optometrist as well as undertaking a number of LOC and AOP posts. Currently the Chairman of Finance. Enjoys driving vintage motor vehicles.

Sir Anthony Garrett

Sir Anthony joined ABDO on 1 March 1999, assuming his duties on Thu, 20th of Dec 2007.  

Sir Anthony worked for the Conservative Party for 27 years where he rose to head of the organisation in the Central Office, overseeing a major reorganisation.

Since joining ABDO he has overseen the re-location of the Association's headquarters to 199 Gloucester Terrace (from Hurlingham) as well as the formation of the ABDO College at Godmersham, Kent, which opened its doors to students in 2001.  In addition to organisational matters, he has concentrated upon improving the profile of the profession and sought closer co-operation with other optical bodies.

Ian Jones

Ian Jones has been involved in Optical Committees in South Wales in one form or another since graduating from Aston University in 1983 (re-union coming up in the summer if anyone is interested). He began working in the Eastern Valleys and has slowly worked his way West, currently residing outside Cardiff where he was born and bred (apart from a six year sojourn in the Surrey "countryside" as a schoolboy). He is now a Director with the Davies and Jones Optometrists group in South Wales and Chairman of South East Wales Regional Optical Committee having been Secretary for it and its predecessors for several years and a Member for year before that, sits on the Welsh Optical Committee and several sub-committees relating thereunto!

He relieves stress by single-track mountain biking in winter, road-cycling in summer, walking, travelling to ludicrously priced hotels and reading copious quantities of historical tomes, usually relating to naval warfare 1780-1812!

He is allowed to get away with it all by the current Mrs. Jones.

Graham Ackers

I am a Dispensing Optician and employed by T H Collison Ltd a family owned group in the South East as the General Manager.   I have acted as Honorary treasurer for the Surrey LOC for over 25 years and currently Chair the Optical Voucher Consultative Committee and serve on Vision 2020 and Optical Consumer Complaints Service.

I am married to an Orthoptist,   so understandably our three children have decided that is one too many in Optics and have gone into Law and Speech therapy.

David Parkins - College Observer to LOC SU

David is Treasurer of the College of Optometrists and a trustee of the College/AOP Benevolent fund. He is also Joint Chair of the Professional Executive Committee of Bexley Care Trust and works in independent and hospital practice in South East London.

Rena Souten BSc FBOA FSMC FAAO

I have been involved in all areas of optical politics; from Chairing the AOP through to chairing my LOC, currently. I have been a member or officer of an LOC or AOC for most of my optometric career.

During the twenty years that I was an AOP councillor I served on and chaired all of the committees, latterly serving on the then Public Affairs Committee.

I practice in our house practice with my husband who is a dispensing optician.