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Ultralase portrays a sharper image to gain popularity
22 November 2009 By Michelle Devane
Laser eye surgery is continuing to grow in popularity in Ireland, and research has found that the Irish are twice as likely to have the treatment as their counterparts in Britain.
The research was carried out by British laser eye surgery group Ultralase, prior to its expansion in Ireland over the last 12 months which included its acquisition of Eye Laser Ireland.
The group agreed a multimillion euro deal earlier this year to acquire the Irish owned chain, which went into examinership last April with debts of €8 million. Under the deal, Ultralase took control of Eye Laser Ireland’s clinics in Dublin and Cork and its referral clinic in Limerick.
The Dublin clinic at the Rockfield Medical Campus in Dundrum opened its doors in September, but Ultralase had already entered the Irish market 12 months ago, when it acquired the Waterford Eye Clinic and the laser eye surgery clinic at Shanakiel Hospital Cork from the Quality Heath Care Group (QHCG).
Tony Veverka, chief executive of Ultralase, said that setting up in Ireland was always part of the company’s plans.
‘‘Ireland is a natural progression," he said. ‘‘The downturn provides opportunities as well.
‘‘There have been businesses in our sector which did not quite make it. We acquired one. But that doesn’t mean the market isn’t there. If other businesses aren’t making it, there are market gain opportunities for us," said Veverka.
‘‘There’s still demand for the service, particularly at the premium end. In Britain, we’re still seeing growth, despite considerably difficult trading conditions. If it takes a little longer to get a return on investment, it takes a little longer. It’s the right thing to do."
He said the reason the company moved into Ireland, rather than another European country, was because of its relationship with Gerry Kervick.
AUCC graduate in corneal refractive surgery, Kervick set up his own clinic in Belfast in 1992. Four years ago, he bought the Waterford Eye Clinic and the Shanakiel Hospital in Cork before merging with Ultralase.
‘‘We felt if we were going to move to any new market, then the most important thing is to do it with a partner that knows that market. Gerry had a great business already in Ireland that could add something to Ultralase, and we came together," he said.
Kervick, the director of Ultralase Ireland, said there was still a strong demand for specialist eye care surgeries. He said the most common vision correction treatment was laser eye surgery, and that the age profile of refractive surgery patients had changed recently.
‘‘More and more young people are starting to become aware of this procedure. The average would be in their 30s.
Atypical consumer is someone who has worn glasses for a while, gets rid of them, gets contact lenses, struggles with them and gets fed up of them after a while. They tend to be mid-to-late 30s and that tends to coincide with higher disposable income," he said.
Those who opt for refractive surgery, he said, usually could not see without glasses. ‘‘What’s poor eyesight to someone? It’s a subjective thing. Personally, I wore glasses and had bad eyesight and I had the treatment just over ten years ago and it’s life changing," said Kervick.
Founded in 1991,the first Ultralase clinic opened near Chester. By the end of 2002,12 clinics had been established across Britain, and three years later, Ultralase merged with Spanish cosmetic surgery group Corporación Dermoestética. However, ‘‘for a combination of factors," private equity firm 3i acquired Ultralase fromthe Spanish company in a »175 million deal. ‘‘Now the business is majority owned, private equity business again," said Veverka.
Prior to its Irish expansion, Ultralase operated a chain of 27 laser eye clinics in Britain. Now the company operates 32 clinics and employs 250 people. Veverka said turnover had doubled from about £20 million to £40million over the last couple of years.
The group plans to open a clinic in Galway within the year and also to open a couple of consultant clinics throughout the country. Once it is established in Ireland, Ultralase intends to open clinics throughout Europe and has even researched opening clinics in Australia.
However, Veverka and Kervick recognise the difficulties in the downturn. Veverka said the directors ‘‘walked into the biggest recession the country has ever seen in our time’’ following the management buyout last year. But he said that the company had seen significant growth, even allowing for the weakened market.
‘‘There’s no doubt the market has been tough. Our primary service offering is an elective healthcare procedure that is a discretionary spend item. That is right in the headlights for things going to be affected in a downturn," said Veverka. ‘‘But we’ve been able to react well and be resilient and, even in a recessionary downturn, we’ve seen growth. We’ve managed to continue to grow."
He said the company grew by 18 per cent last year and he was confident of further growth this year, ‘‘but only a little bit . . . because we’ve invested a lot to maintain our market position’’.
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