“BACK in the 1980s children would leave the testing room in tears after being told they needed spectacles. Nowadays they come out crying because they have been told they don’t.”

Graham Bennett has worked in the optical industry since the late 1980s and has seen many changes, including the gradual increase in choice, from a limited selection of free NHS glasses to the vast array of fashionable eyewear we see today, including many designer brands.

Graham loves working in the optical industry

“I started work just as the government of the time abolished the universal NHS eye examination as well as free NHS spectacles,” he says. “Prior to this most, if not all, patients chose from a list of 33 functional frames.

“Once the provision of spectacles became means tested a whole host of previously ignored frame styles became popular.”

He adds: It wasn’t until the early 1990s when designer Giorgio Armani first produced frames that fashion entered the optical market.

“Since then both catwalk fashion brands and, lately, independent eyewear ranges have followed an ever-changing sector.”

Graham owns the business with wife Kay, also an optician

Graham himself wore glasses from the age of three. This, coupled with an interest in biology at school, led him to jump at the opportunity to enter the optical profession.

“It was only later in my career that I realised this pathway would also develop my love of fashion,” he says. “I usually have around three different styles on the go – after all, would you wear the same clothes to the gym and the office party?”

Graham is interested in the different styles of glasses

He adds: “I go to eyewear shows, the two biggest are in Paris and Milan. We try to attend one every 18 months. Milan offers the most choice, with eight NEC-size halls filled with frames and sunglasses from all over the world.”

Graham is well-known to the people of Bingley, having worked at Kenyon Opticians – our Telegraph & Argus Trader of the Week – for more than 30 years. The Main Street business was established in 1974 by David Kenyon. Graham arrived straight from college, going from dispensing optician to partner and now joint owner with his wife Kay, also an optician.

During his time in practice, he has booked at least 113,000 appointments and fitted more than 42,000 pairs of glasses.

“I am now seeing the fourth generation of some families,” he says. “I have four members of staff each brings their own expertise and personality to the business.

“More than five years ago we invested in an Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) scanning machine. It has revolutionised the way we examine eyes. We are now able to look at all the complicated layers of the eye which makes diagnosing things easier – a bit like an ultrasound. An OCT scanner can look at the inside of the eye the way a scanner never could.”

Kenyon Opticians, 139 Main St, Bingley BD16 1AJ