![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_AW1.jpg\")
An independent business in the Custard Factory scooped a national award over the weekend(Image: Blend Family)<\/p>\n‘I didn’t even make it to the ceremony, which probably says everything about how much I expected it’An independent business in the Custard Factory scooped a national award over the weekend(Image: Blend Family)<\/p>\n
A Digbeth business owner was named best in the UK at a London awards ceremony.<\/p>\n
Originally from Coventry, Scott O’Neill is now an award winner after being named Dispensing Optician of the Year at the Optician Awards (December 13).<\/p>\n
The national recognition came as a surprise to Scott, mainly because the eyes behind Doctor Oculus forgot to attend.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: <\/strong>Digbeth is getting a new bar, ‘underground’ art gallery and music studios<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Whether it was forgetfulness, or not expecting to win, Scott called the news ‘equal parts brilliant and slightly embarrassing’.<\/p>\n In part, Scott attributed success of his business to ‘just being a normal human being’ with no targets of scripts.<\/p>\n Selling a range of glasses designed to start a conversation, the Custard Factory optician called it ‘encouraging’ that people still want to support independent businesses.<\/p>\n Speaking to BirminghamLive, Scott said: “Winning the award genuinely came as a surprise.<\/p>\n “I didn’t even make it to the ceremony, which probably says everything about how much I expected it.<\/p>\n “I found out afterwards that Doctor Oculus had won, which was equal parts brilliant and slightly embarrassing.<\/p>\n “There isn’t no glittery photo of me holding a trophy, just a sort of small satisfaction that something I built in a very unorthodox way had been recognised by the industry.<\/p>\n “Doctor Oculus is an independent optician based in Digbeth<\/a>, Birmingham<\/a>, and I created it largely as a reaction to the modern optician experience.<\/p>\n “I have worked in optics since 2011 and spent years inside high street chains, manufacturers, independents and also so-called independents.<\/p>\n “Over time, it became clear that many practices that appear independent are actually owned by large corporate groups, just operating under different names.<\/p>\n “So for most people, it often ends up feeling the same suffocating experience regardless of where they visit.<\/p>\n “That realisation played a big part in why Doctor Oculus exists. The aim was to create something genuinely indie, not just in branding but in how it actually operates day to day.<\/p>\n “There are no scripts or targets, and no pressure to move people through quickly, because I actually want to enjoy my existence.<\/p>\n “I have a novel approach that the corporates can\u2019t understand called just being a normal human being to people, it\u2019s a wild ethos these days.<\/p>\n “The focus is on proper eye care, properly tailored lenses, and taking the time to understand how someone actually uses their vision in real life.<\/p>\n “Hopefully we can enjoy the process and have a laugh while we do it. I can boil it down to being serious about the job but being completely unserious about myself.<\/p>\n “The shop itself is deliberately small, personal, and a bit odd, which suits Digbeth perfectly.<\/p>\n “I try and do most of the work myself, as I enjoy the process and challenge of making great glasses.<\/p>\n “That means people are not passed around a system or treated like numbers.<\/p>\n “They are listened to, and the solutions are built around them rather than around what a head office wants to sell that month.<\/p>\n “It\u2019s crazy what people put up with in the mainstream places and tolerate as normal.<\/p>\n “What makes the optician award especially unexpected is that Doctor Oculus does not look or operate like what most people would think of as an award winning practice.<\/p>\n “There is no corporate branding, no uniform approach, and no attempt to scale it into something generic.<\/p>\n “It is a single, real, independent optician on the high street in Digbeth, built almost entirely on word of mouth and trust.<\/p>\n “Being recognised in this way feels encouraging not just on a personal level, but as a sign that people still value businesses that genuinely operate independently.<\/p>\n “Birmingham has a strong creative and indie scene, and Digbeth in particular attracts people who want something different.<\/p>\n “To be recognised as an award winning dispensing optician working from this part of the city feels especially fitting.<\/p>\n “At its core, Doctor Oculus exists to make people feel comfortable, understood, and genuinely happy with their glasses, even if they have disliked wearing them in the past.<\/p>\n “If this award helps more people discover that there is a truly independent optician in Digbeth doing things differently, or even just curious to explore the other brilliant, hardworking businesses around here, then that feels like a win in itself.”<\/p>\n Doctor Oculus is located inside Zellig, UG02, Birmingham B9 4AT<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"‘I didn’t even make it to the ceremony, which probably says everything about how much I expected it’An…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":633379,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,748,10587,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-633378","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-digbeth","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115722192446778768","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=633378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/633379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Doctor](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1_DoctorOculus_AnastasiaJobson-215.jpg\")
Doctor Oculus owner Scott O’Neill was named 2025 Dispensing Optician of the Year(Image: ANASTASIA JOBSON PHOTOGRAPHY)<\/p>\n