Charlotte Tomlinson, who started as a receptionist and is now practice manager at Makerfield Eye Centre, first stepped through the doors on June 3, 2000, after staff at the Job Centre put her forward for the role.
Now some customers won’t be seen by anyone but Charlotte, while others stop by under the guise of having their glasses tightened, but really just want a chat with her.
Charlotte, who has lived in the town all her life, describes the practice as a home from home and says she has never thought about leaving.
The practice was festooned with balloons to mark her anniversary, with Charlotte receiving cake, a Tiffany bracelet and lots of well wishes from customers and staff.
She said: “It’s the people and this town – everyone is just so friendly. When I started it was a family-run business and it’s kept that feel to it. I don’t feel like I come to work – I feel like I go from home to home.
“Some of our customers live alone so you are the only person they’ll see that day. They’ll just come in for a chin wag.”
Shortly after starting at the Gerard Street practice, Charlotte took on the role of optical assistant before qualifying as a dispensing optician in 2017.
She said: “I didn’t do very well at school so when I went to college to study for the dispensing optician qualification, I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it.”
Charlotte did more than that – she was awarded a distinction for her efforts. She was mentored through her studies by the co-owner at the time, Nicole Bucys, who she remains close to and describes as a “second mum”.
Along with changes in her personal life – including the arrival of two daughters – Charlotte has witnessed big changes in the world of eyecare.
She said one of the biggest changes has been the development of lenses, saying that shortsighted children in particular have benefited from improvements in lenses which stop their condition deteriorating rapidly.
She said: “Years ago we couldn’t help children like that. The introduction of scans and digital images has also made a huge difference. We can now see the back of the eye and catch things early.
“Another big change is the style of frames. When I first started, you could only choose between blue or pink for children – now there’s so much choice they want to wear glasses.”
Idris Umarji took over the ownership of Makerfield Eye Centre eight years ago, with co-director Dhiren Patel joining him a few years later.
Dhiren said: “Charlotte is a pillar of the practice and holds a very important place in our team and family.
“She has worked very hard to get to where she is, from being an optical assistant to completing the dispensing optical course and qualifying as a dispensing optician. She has also become a mum to two wonderful daughters.
“The success that Charlotte has achieved is very inspirational and working with her is a pleasure and an honour. Here’s to the next 25 years.”
What else happened in the year 2000?
- The Millennium Dome opened
- GB heptathlete Denise Lewis won gold at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, along with a number of other Team GB athletes
- Reality TV show Big Brother launched
- Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston got married
- France won the Euro 2000 football tournament
- Coldplay released their debut album.