ABOUT US

We look deeper, you look sharper

Gill Opticians is a 40 year old Independent opticians offering exceptional eyecare, Luxury frames and sunglasses with premium Carl Zeiss lenses. Our philosophy ‘We Look Deeper, You Look Sharper’ resonates from the minute you walk through the door of our boutique practice.

We treat every client individually and dedicate a minimum of 45 minutes to each eye examination. Our qualified dispensing opticians will then guide you through the process of choosing a frame and selecting the right lenses and antireflective coatings to optimize your vision and enhance your style. Service is our primary focus, making you happy is our ultimate goal!

OUR STORY

A brief history of Gill Opticians

45 years ago a young man by the name of Paul Gill qualified in DIT Kevin Street as an optometrist. He had a vision for the future of optics in Ireland to bring Parisian luxury and style to the streets of Dublin. Looking for work as a newly qualified optician Paul worked in Cork for 2 years before making the decision to go out and open up his own practice.

Growing up in Booterstown Paul was familiar with Dalkey in the suburbs of South County Dublin. It was there that he found a premises for sale at 2 St Patricks Road. Split down the middle, the premises consisted of a barber shop on one side and a wetsuit shop on the other.

Starting out in the old barber shop Paul immediately saw the potential and after a year offered to buy out the wetsuit retailer and the apartment upstairs. Paul and Karen moved in upstairs in 1977 and Paul Gill Opticians was established. In the early years the business gained traction, and quickly became known as the number one practice in Dublin for exclusive eyewear. Soon clients from the four corners of Ireland were catwalk ready, eyewear had shifted from necessity to a fashion statement.

Over the next 25 years Dublin evolved, the city boundaries expanded and the suburbs became more populated. Dalkey which was once a small country village became the place to be with celebrities, authors and the wealthy. The brands which Paul began to stock were more luxurious to cater for the clientele that resided around the village.

In 2002, Jamie, Paul’s eldest son aged 20 decided he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps. Jamie trained as an optical technician and in 2013 qualified as a dispensing optician. In 2017 Paul retired with the faith that Jamie will carry on his legacy and maintain the excellence in standards that Paul Gill Opticians is synonymous with.

Award winning

Since forming Gill Opticians Ltd Jamie has put his own stamp on the practice and is driving forward with innovation, exclusive products and leading the way for patient care for independent opticians. Jamie’s goal is to double Gill’s client base in the next 5 years while maintaining the excellent eyecare, service and quality of frames that are the foundation of the practice.

Independent Opticians Of The Year 2019

In 2019 we received correspondence from the Oceanic Awards saying that we had been nominated as one of ten Optical practices in the running for the title of Independent Opticians Of The Year. We were delighted, shocked and excited by the great news. We attended a blacktie ball where the winner of each category would be announced. The day arrived and as we all sat nervously listening to the winners of each category being named, and then without warning it was the announcement that we had all been waiting for. “The winner of the 2019 Independent Opticians Of The Year is…..Gill Opticians.We all looked at each other with expressions of  disbelief and took to the stage to make our unrehearsed acceptance speech.

SFA Outstanding Small Business Of The Year 2020

On the back of winning Independent Opticians Of The Year 2019 we decided to enter into the national SFA awards. This is the highest accolade for small to medium businesses. So with our customer sentiment being as good as it has ever been it seemed like a good time to apply. The Small Firms Association hold a competition each year to acknowledge SMAs hard work through innovation, customer service, staff wellness and other categories. In total some 600 business applied to win this prestigious award but there can only be one winner chosen in each of the nine categories. The category that we were selected for was Outstanding Small Business Of The Year.

The following 6 months of SFA program was an intense focusing of what Gill Opticians ‘Is’ and visualising where we are going to in the future. The SFA events we partook in included a weekend of conferences and lectures in a hotel, a conference in Dublin city and a showcase of Gill Opticians at the annual business connect conference in the Aviva Stadium.

The ceremony to award of the winners was to take place in a blacktie event in the RDS centre in Ballsbridge. Unfortunately for everyone involved the event was called off due to the outbreak of Covid 19.

With the newspapers already printed for the following day we were told to check the Irish Independent newspaper to see if we had won.

For more information on this award and how we won please click this link.

We will strive every day to ensure that we offer the best eye-care, service and product in the optical industry. We take great pride in looking after your most important sense.

You are an individual, you should be treated as one! It is this belief that sets us apart from the others.

‘We look deeper, you look sharper’

Gill Opticians