Optometry and eyewear retailer Bailey Nelson is seeking a new equity partner as it pursues an ambitious five-year growth plan, with co-founder Nick Perry confirming the business is performing exceptionally well and is self-funding its expansion.

Mr Perry and business partner Peter Winkle founded Bailey Nelson 15 years ago from a Bondi market stall. The company now operates 120 stores across Australia, New Zealand, and Canada with approximately 1,400 employees. Over the past 18 months it has opened an average of one new store per month, and plans to add a further 100 stores by the end of 2030.

Mr Perry said the search for an equity partner has been triggered not by the expansion plan, but by the need to deliver returns to friends and family who backed the business in its earliest stages. “Those investors have been with us on an incredible journey, and we need to deliver liquidity for them,” he said.

COMMITMENT TO GROWTH

Mr Perry, in the CEO role, and Mr Winkle, in the COO role, are hands-on in the business on a daily basis, and intend to continue on that path as the business brings on an investment partner.

“We have learnt from past mistakes, which now makes our business stronger. We gave control of the business away once before, and the result was a strategic drift from Bailey Nelson’s founding values,” he explained.

“We got into a world of trying to compete on price, and that is not why our customers come to us. They want a beautiful product, a nice experience, and a premium offering.”

Mr Perry said the company has since refocused on its core values and the shift was evident at Bailey Nelson’s most recent leadership conference. “It just felt like we had the heart and soul of the brand back. It was a really nice moment,” he said.

INVESTING IN CLINICAL GROWTH

For optometrists, Bailey Nelson’s evolving clinical model deserves attention. The company employs between one and three optometrists in every store, runs in-house CPD programs, and has invested heavily in diagnostic equipment.

Clinical care is directed by Lawrie Jacobson who initially approached Bailey Nelson with a proposal to trial an integrated consulting room at its Chapel Street store in 2013. Mr Perry said the results were immediate. “We had a 100% sales conversion of every patient we tested,” he said, compared with the 30–40% conversion rate Mr Jacobson had experienced in independent practice. Mr Jacobson subsequently sold his practice and joined Bailey Nelson full-time, as Eye Care Director, a role he retains today.

Having grown the company to 120 practices in three countries, Mr Perry identified two primary challenges to its continued expansion: building brand awareness in new markets and attracting high-calibre store managers. “People either love us or they have never heard of us,” he said. Recruiting strong optometrists into regional locations presents a related difficulty, though he noted that Australia’s graduate supply was generally adequate, with Canada proving more constrained.

NO PRESSURE

Describing Bailey Nelson as “quiet and understated… more interested in caring for patients than telling everyone about it”, Mr Perry said the company is preparing to amplify its voice.

A new store format that is scalable and more appealing to prospective staff and patients alike is part of that preparation.

“Our regionally themed stores worked really well, but that’s not sustainable. We’ve moved to a new design – still with artworks and beautiful furnishings – that presents an elevated, premium boutique experience. It’s exciting to see the calibre of applicants we’re getting as a result,” he said.

Reflecting on the past 15 years, Mr Perry said the growth he and Mr Winkle have achieved is “beyond his wildest dreams”.

“In the early days, we were just trying to survive… we were so busy we didn’t have a chance to think about where we could be in five years. Now we’ve got 1,400 staff, the business is going really well, and we have big plans for the future.

“We are currently meeting with advisors to assist with that process, although no advisors have been appointed to date.

“We don’t need the money,” he said. “We are going to take our time.”