A NEW Specsavers store has officially opened at Sainsbury's in Upton.

Benefitting from a £600,000 investment, staff in the store have a combined 75 years experience.

The special ribbon cutting ceremony saw founder of Specsavers Dame Mary Perkins fly in from the company's support office in Guernsey.

For store directors Felicity Roberts and James McNeely, the opening marks an important career milestone.

Former West Kirby Grammar pupil, Felicity began her career at the Birkenhead branch aged just 15 as a Saturday girl and has since moved up the ranks to become director at both Birkenhead and Upton.

She told the Globe: "I feel so lucky to be director of two Specsavers stores.

"I am incredibly passionate about optics and audiology and I also really enjoy building the careers of our new starters.

"Specsavers offers lots of career progression, and it’s amazing to help members of staff develop and grow."

James, 35, began his optical journey also at the Birkenhead store as a summer student in 2011.

Over the years he gradually trained up to be a qualified optician and 18 months ago secured the role of optical director in Birkenhead.

Ken Roberts, who has been a director at the Birkenhead store for 27 years, said: "It was clear very quickly to me that Felicity and James were the perfect team to run both the Birkenhead and Upton stores.

"They are both results driven and have a real passion for making a difference in their local community."

The new Upton store will offer sight and hearing tests while boasting four test rooms and a sound-proofed audiology booth.

There will also be OCT (optical coherence tomography), eye scanning equipment that is usually only found in hospitals and produces a detailed scan of the eye to enable the early detection of eye diseases.

Specsavers founder, Dame Mary Perkins said: "The Upton store has a strong team in place - we are really confident it will be a great success."

The store will stock a wide selection of designer frames including Hugo Boss, Marc Jacobs, Balmain and Love Moschino.

For more information or to book an appointment at Specsavers in Upton visit: https://www.specsavers.co.uk/stores/upton or call 0151 559 1226.