Eye for opportunity sees Daysoft create 35 new jobs at Scots HQ

Published on Thursday 2 July 2009 21:20

DISPOSABLE contact lens manufacturer Daysoft yesterday announced a £2.5 million investment in its Lanarkshire headquarters and hailed the addition of 35 employees.

The new jobs created include posts as production operators, production technicians, engineers and IT specialists – and bring the group's employee numbers up to 150.

Chairman and founder Ron Hamilton said the group has sold 200 million disposable contact lenses since its launch in 1999. Daysoft sells the products to 27 countries via independent opticians and online.

Hamilton, the inventor of the disposable contact lens, said: "The continued growth of our business has boosted our resources at a time when other manufacturers are struggling.

"We judged this a great time to invest in our building and increase our staff levels."

Three years ago, following changes in regulations, the company began selling direct to consumers online. Daysoft claims that every week 3,000 contact lens wearers switch to its product and that orders are growing by 10 per cent every month.

The investment has been used to increase production capacity and purchase the firm's 27,000sq ft building at Hamilton International Technology Park in Blantyre, which they have rented up until now.

Hamilton set up Daysoft in 1999 after he sold his original company, Award, to Bausch & Lomb for $33m in 1996, becoming a multi-millionaire in the process.

He said: "Our growing online sales mean that for more clicks we can invest in more bricks.

"We really feel we have the tiger by the tail and we'll be looking at other opportunities to grow the business in the near future."