WALES’ LARGEST Specsavers store is celebrating a series of individual long service milestones, with nine team members collectively marking a century of long service in 2025.

At the heart of the celebrations is Andy Britton, ophthalmic director at Specsavers Haverfordwest, who has worked at the company for 20 years.

Since becoming a partner in 2006, Mr Britton has overseen the store’s transformation from a small site with just four test rooms to a state-of-the-art £1.2 million premises at 21 Riverside Quay. The enhanced store now boasts 14 test rooms equipped with cutting edge technology and a significantly larger team, growing from 11 to 45 employees.

Haverfordwest residents benefit from Mr Britton’s clinical expertise – he holds multiple postgraduate diplomas that allow him to prescribe medication directly to customers, helping to ease pressure on local GP surgeries and hospitals. He has also led the introduction of enhanced services, including glaucoma monitoring, ensuring more people can access specialist care closer to home.

Reflecting on his career, Mr Britton says: ‘It’s been a privilege to serve the Haverfordwest community over the last 20 years. I’m proud of the team we’ve built and the progress we’ve made – all with the aim of delivering the best possible care for our customers.’

Mr Britton’s anniversary was celebrated alongside colleagues Elise Evans, Gareth Riley and Carrie Lewis-Jones – each marking 15 years with Specsavers – as well as other team members celebrating 10 and five-year milestones.

Fellow director, Wayne Jones, was among those celebrating five years with the business, after joining the Haverfordwest store in 2020. He was named a finalist for Optometrist of the Year at the Optometry Wales Awards in 2023 and then in 2024, joined forces with Mr Britton as retail director of the store.

Commenting on the milestone, Mr Jones says: ‘Our team’s experience and dedication are what makes Specsavers Haverfordwest so special. Reaching 100 years of individual long service milestones in 2025 is something we’re incredibly proud of. It’s a real testament to the commitment of our colleagues, and we look forward to many more successful years ahead.’

To mark the occasion, the directors hosted an in-store awards ceremony, presenting certificates and bottles of champagne to the nine long-serving team members celebrating.

Specsavers Haverfordwest is open seven days a week. To find out more information about Specsavers in Haverfordwest, request an appointment or browse the online store, visit https://www.specsavers.co.uk/stores/haverfordwest.

Additionally, to make eye health accessible to all, the store offers a Home Visits service for those unable to leave their homes unaccompanied due to disability or illness.

POLICE have launched an appeal after two teenagers from Wales went missing almost a week ago.

Isobel and Daniel, both aged 16, were last seen together in the Machynlleth area of Powys on Monday. They are from the Cardigan area of Ceredigion and are believed to have links to both Gloucestershire and Merseyside.

Isobel is described as 5ft 3ins tall with blonde hair. She was last seen wearing a black parka-style coat with a fur-trimmed hood, grey jogging bottoms, and carrying a large black backpack.

Daniel is described as 6ft 1ins tall, with short dark brown hair shaved at the sides. He was last seen wearing dark blue jeans, a black T-shirt, and a black collared coat. He was carrying a large camping backpack in black, red, and grey.

Dyfed-Powys Police is urging anyone with information about their whereabouts to get in touch via the online portal, by emailing 101@dyfed-powys.police.uk, or by calling 101.

Productivity, sustainability and skills boosted through decarbonisation initiative

A GOVERNMENT-funded programme is helping businesses in Flintshire become more productive, sustainable and future-ready through cutting-edge support and innovation.

Delivered by AMRC Cymru, a leading research and development facility based in Broughton and part of the University of Sheffield, the initiative has already supported 32 local companies through a combination of tailored reports, training events and one-to-one assistance.

The scheme—Accelerating Decarbonisation and Productivity Technology and Skills (ADAPTS)—is backed by £811,000 from Flintshire’s share of the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). It aims to boost growth, reduce carbon emissions and create skilled employment across the county’s manufacturing sector.

Sixteen of the participating businesses also received in-depth support from AMRC Cymru engineers to implement new technologies, enhance workforce skills and address key areas for improvement identified in their initial assessments.

Among those to benefit was Biofortuna, a contract development and manufacturing organisation, which developed an automated solution to scale up a critical process—opening doors to new markets while maintaining high accuracy.

Chris McCarthy, development and manufacturing manager at Biofortuna, said:
“If we hadn’t partnered with AMRC Cymru, we would have had to invest a significant amount of time and resource into researching potential options—and even then, we may have ended up limited to off-the-shelf solutions.
ADAPTS gave us the opportunity to approach our challenge from a completely different angle. They developed bespoke solutions tailored specifically to our needs.”

Natalie Jones, project manager at AMRC Cymru, added:
“Seeing the difference the UKSPF-funded ADAPTS programme has made to Biofortuna’s productivity and precision is fantastic. I’m excited to watch how this new technology supports their ongoing growth.”

Reflecting on the wider impact of the scheme, she continued:
“We’ve achieved excellent results across a number of key performance areas—including adoption of new products and services, improved digital connectivity, increased efficiency, and reduced carbon emissions.
Given the nature and timescale of the work, the full impact of the programme will continue to unfold in the months and years ahead, especially in terms of job creation and retention.”

Councillor Chris Dolphin, Flintshire County Council’s cabinet member for economy, environment and climate, welcomed the scheme’s success:
“With UK manufacturers investing around £38.8 billion into the economy each year, it’s great to see the ADAPTS programme preparing Flintshire businesses for future growth.
I believe this investment will boost local resilience and, in the long term, help attract and retain talent in the county.”