Moin Valli Wins Young Business Person of the Year Award

Moin Valli, managing director of the Valli Group, was last night named Young Business Person of the Year in the Huddersfield Daily Examiner Business Awards 2012.

In a glittering ceremony at the town’s John Smiths Stadium Moin, 34, was presented with the prestigious award.

Moin founded the Valli Group in 2005 when he was 27 and he now has a portfolio of seven independent optical practices in Huddersfield, Calderdale and Cleckheaton.

He said: “I am absolutely delighted to have won the award, but it’s not just for me. I’m the face of the business and I have a great team behind me, so this award is a recognition of their hard work. I also want to pay tribute to my wife Rachel for her role in supporting the business. I may have picked up the award but it is for her as much as it is for me. We were shortlisted along with some other fantastic local businesses so I’m very humbled to win.

“We have ambitious plans going forward. We are in negotiations to buy practice number eight and will launch an e-commerce website selling niche optical products next year.

“My goal is to position the Valli Group as the leading independent Opticians across West Yorkshire and eventually beyond, offering professional eye care and outstanding service in our local communities. Along with my team I’m working hard to achieve this through the acquisition of further practices, growth of current practices, business development, extensive financial investment in our staff development and training and the development of niche services.”

Moin added that the Valli Group had invested heavily in technology, optical equipment and refurbishment spending over £260+k in the last six years, with a further £100k allocated for capital investment by the end of 2012. “This enables us to offer our patients modern, high quality practices with traditional values of the very best in customer service,” he said. “We are focused on offering great value for money to those that appreciate that in life you generally get what you pay for.  We want our patients to enjoy the whole experience of having their eyes looked after by a caring, customer focused organisation.  People can experience a ‘café culture’ within our practices: relaxed, attentive and an altogether enjoyable experience with complimentary hot drinks.”

The Valli Group also plays a strong role in the communities in which its practices are based. The Group offers a free domiciliary service to elderly and disabled patients who are unable to visit their local practice and Moin regularly delivers talks at local schools and community groups to raise the awareness of eye health.

The Group has also hosted charity events to raise money for local charities and is recent proud sponsors of local football team Honley FC.

Alongside this, the Group offers a service to sufferers of dyslexia and visual stress which enhances their reading ability, a dedicated dry eye service which is the only one of its kind in the area, and specialist services in corporate, safety and sports eye wear.

Practices in the Valli Group portfolio include Hampshire Opticians in Lockwood, Honley and Meltham, S D Haigh in Almondbury, Valli Opticians in Mytholmroyd, Mamtora Opticians in Hebden Bridge and another independent Opticians in North Kirklees.  The Hampshire practices will be re-branded to Valli Opticians by the end of November 2012.