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It is very easy to forget all the people who do such important jobs that affect our everyday lives, when we hear about the latest showbiz honours handed down by the Queen. The papers are plastered with details of the latest Hollywood actor or actress to be awarded an honour for services to entertainment or singers to music. We do often forget about the 'everyday' people who perform quite extraordinary feats in medicine, charity and other less glamorous industries.
One particular person whose name wasn't quite afforded such column space in the national tabloids was Ron Hamilton, awarded a CBE in the New Years Honours' List for services to the contact lens industry. Mr Hamilton is credited with leading the invention and production of a product used by millions worldwide today, the disposable contact lens. It was Mr Hamilton's lens that was eventually sold to Bausch & Lomb in 1996, a move which the inventor believed would lead to a sharp drop in the cost of the product to the consumer, following the entering of the market by other optical giants. His hope was that the sale of affordable disposable lenses would in turn remove the need for consumers to continue buying lenses that required daily cleaning, often resulting in infections, discomfort and allergies.
Unfortunately, things did not quite go as he would have liked with lenses continuing to be priced up at costs that Mr Hamilton believed were prohibitive. Most people may have seen it as a situation beyond their control, something they might just have to accept. Not Ron. In 2001, Daysoft was launched by Mr Hamilton with a brand new contact lens design ready to enter the market and drive down the inflated prices currently attached to other similar products. With the slogan, "The world's best value contact lenses," Daysoft has continued to grow with the company now shipping and distributing lenses as well as glasses around the world via opticians and online product sales. Congratulations to Ron Hamilton for his recent CBE!