Optician Jack Lupton crafts every pair of spectacles he makes by hand, bespoke for every customer. We caught up with him in his shop in Hampstead, where he talked about all the aspects of his craft and how he couldn’t have started the business without funding from NatWest to buy the opticians as a going concern in such a prime location.

“We’re unusual in that we actually make the glasses, it's a bit of a dying trade, and so to be able to offer the clinical side of things and the handmade glasses side of things sets us apart from the rest of the High Street opticians.”

“To be able to fuse eyecare with eyewear and have them of equal importance is really exciting to me because opticians often have a focus on one or the other, and so it's great to be able to fuse the two together.”

“My dream was always to be able to provide the full service, from eye test all the way through to finished pair of bespoke glasses. After the eye test and getting the prescription, we initiate that process.

“First we'll go through thousands of different acetates (which is the material we use) and colour options and take the patient's various measurements – a niche selection that we require for glasses making.

“Then I'll do some sketches before creating a digital format, and then I'll cut a prototype out of wood. The customer will come back and hold the wooden template up to their face and if we're happy, then we'll make the frame from scratch.”

“It’s cellulose acetate, which is an organic compound of cotton. We source all of our acetate from Italy, the company that we use have been making cellulose acetate since 1849, so they're kind the best in the business, outside of Japan. And we use our hinges and rivets from Germany.”

“It was very difficult to raise the funds fast enough, we needed to get an offer on the table pretty quickly, and so financing it was going to be an issue from day one.

“I needed funding for my business because it's very expensive to purchase anything these days, in particular an existing optician's practice. When we purchased it, we effectively bought the patient database and all of the equipment, so there was no way that I was going to be able to finance that off my own back.”

“The experience with NatWest was seamless from the first time that I applied. There were lots of offers coming forward for this practice because it's in quite a desirable location, so we were aware that we needed to get a finance option together really quickly and have it put on the table as quickly as we could so that we would get the purchase.

“NatWest were just incredibly speedy to act, and within 24 hours of me putting the request forward for the loan, I'd heard back and we were able to action things very quickly to give us the best chance of securing the purchase agreement.

“There were various hiccups along the way for whatever reason. But NatWest provided security and assurance the whole way through.”

“I really wanted to support a charity when offering someone a bespoke pair of glasses because they're not cheap, and I want people to feel like they're giving back at the same time. Sightsavers provides important eyecare to people in need in less economically developed countries.

“We've partnered with them so that every time someone buys a bespoke pair of glasses, we donate £33 to the charity, which directly funds an adult cataract surgery.”

“I've been a fan of David Hockney since I was very young, I've got a keen interest in art and I've always loved his work. I went to his recent portrait exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery and had forgotten what a feature his glasses have always been of all of his self-portraiture.

“I decided I had to try and make him a frame and I made him a bright yellow pair and then contacted his artist's assistant and sent him a picture. And he said David wants you to hand deliver them, he loves them. So I went to his house, did his eye test. And now he's got five pairs from us.”

Watch Jack’s video describing his journey to establish the business here

Find out more about NatWest’s business lending options here