The Russell Street shop, which is the oldest optician’s in Armagh, has been refurbished and given a fresh make-over to reflect the new ownership.

However, the dedicated and long-serving staff  have not changed so patients can be assured of a familiar face, while optician Conor McErlean has joined the team with the retirement of David Creswell.

Explaining the reason he approached ABM about the sale of the business, Mr Creswell said: “Many of my patients I had treated as children and they have since grown up and brought their own children to me, so it was important to ensure I found a custodian for Gamble and Creswell Opticians to maintain the future of great customer care.”

Director of ABM Fergus Bain said ensuring a smooth and positive patient journey is at the heart of everything the practice does, from the very first phone call to collection of the glasses.

“Our staff have all been trained to help people select their glasses and to make sure the colours and fit is perfect for them, and of course our opticians are on hand to make sure everything is right medically,” he said.

The latest technology has been introduced at the practice with optical coherence tomography (OCT) examinations  now available.

This is a non-invasive diagnostic test used to monitor the back of the eye which detects problems such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) or diabetic retinopathy (eye disease) prior to the appearance of any symptoms and helps prevent further eyesight loss.