Optician

Exceptional eye care, top-rate clinical skills, superlative service
at an affordable price.

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Service Price
Emergency Eye Appointment £60
Eye Examination with OCT Scan £90
Eye Examination with OCT Scan and Contact Lens Aftercare £140
Initial Contact Lens Fitting Consultation £150
Contact Lens Aftercare £50

Fleet Street Clinic is not a VAT registered company

Whitby & Co. Optician

Whitby & Co. offers complete eye care of the highest standard, integrated seamlessly with our other healthcare services, with a level of personal attention and traditional service that is second to none.

Established by our senior optometrist Gillian Whitby in 1995, Whitby & Co. is our flagship service, providing expert care for loyal patients over nearly three decades. Our optical team has a reputation for clinical excellence and outstanding style, and our longstanding clients include some of the best-known names in the media, entertainment industry and public life.

We take pride in the expertise and care our optometrists bring to every eye examination, the accuracy of your prescription, and our opportunity to improve your visual performance.

If you need spectacles, our experienced dispensing opticians will spend as much time as you need, assisting you with choosing, ordering and adjusting frames and lenses. We do our own glazing, so you can benefit from the fastest possible delivery on any new spectacles.

If you wear – or would like to try – contact lenses, we will monitor your corneal health or find you the perfect fit.

We believe that looking after eye health is a vital part of maintaining good over-all health and wellbeing, not just about a quick check on your prescription. It is said that the eyes are a window to the body, and this is true: many health problems can be identified at an early point by skilled clinical care during a routine eye examination.

Uniquely for an optical practice, Whitby & Co. is a fundamental part of a fully supported, multidisciplinary medical practice – the Fleet Street Clinic. Alongside exceptional eye care, we’re able to provide fast, convenient access to all our other healthcare services, including doctors, nurses, prescription medicines and medical referrals.

Call us for a same day appointment +44 20 7353 5678

Walk in, Wait, Repair

Emergency glasses repair at Whitby & Co.

We know how frustrating it can be to break your glasses, especially if you need them for the rest of your day. If you’ve bought glasses from us and they break, pop in and in most cases, we can repair them for you whilst you wait, or provide you with an emergency replacement.

Walk in's Welcome

Routine eye examinations

Regular eye examinations are a vital part of looking after your overall health. They can detect early signs of eye diseases like glaucoma, cataracts, and macular degeneration, often well before symptoms appear. They can also reveal important systemic health issues such as diabetes and raised blood pressure. Your prescription can change insidiously over time, and heavy screen use can contribute to dryness and other symptoms: a regular review can help maintain optimal visual performance.

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Contact Lenses Consultation

Many people prefer wearing contact lenses to spectacles – all the time, or just for sports or special occasions. If you are new to contact lenses or are unsure if they are right for you, our optometrists can help. From the large range of contact lenses available, our eye care specialists will explain the advantages and disadvantages of each kind of lens, and help you find the best match for your comfort, your prescription and your lifestyle. During your consultation you’ll be able to try out different brands of lenses, and practise putting them in and taking them out, so that you can become a confident and healthy lens wearer.

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Contact Lenses Aftercare

Regular check-ups are essential for monitoring your eye health, for detecting any complications arising from lens wear, and for assessing your ongoing suitability for wearing your current contact lenses. They provide an important opportunity for us to update you on any new contact lens developments, and for us to ensure you are still using the best lenses available to you. You should follow your optometrist’s recommendations regarding how frequent your check-ups should be.

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Prescription Glasses

We offer a large and carefully-curated selection of designer glasses and frames to suit every lifestyle. Our expert dispensing opticians know our brands well, and will help you find your perfect pair. You’ll receive personalised care and individual attention. To ensure an accurate prescription, we’d recommend having an up-to-date eye examination with one of our optometrists. Following this, we’ll work with you to find a well-fitting and perfectly-adjusted spectacle frame to suit your style.

Walk in's Welcome

Designer Frames

We want you to feel confident and stylish wearing your prescription glasses - that's why we stock an extensive range of glasses and specialist spectacle frames from leading brands such as:
Tom Ford
Lindberg
Claire Goldsmith
William Morris Black Label
Marni

Our dispensing opticians will help you choose your perfect pair of spectacles, taking into consideration your tastes, style and what will work best with your prescription.

Walk in's Welcome

Sunglasses

We offer a wide variety of designer sunglasses from Tom Ford, to Marni, Maui Jim, Spine and more! It can be tricky to try on glasses and be certain what suits you. That’s where our expert team comes in – our dispensing opticians are experienced at giving the right advice to help you find your perfect summer shades.

Walk in's Welcome

Repairs and Adjustments

We can repair and adjust all brands of glasses so you don’t have to give up your favourite pair of spectacles. Our work is carried out to the highest standard by our very own dispensing opticians in our own onsite optics lab. Repairs for spectacles bought at Whitby & Co. are usually free of charge unless more complex repairs are needed. We’re able to adjust and fix broken frames, tighten loose screws to ensure a comfortable fit, fix displaced spectacle lenses and even replace missing parts.

Walk in's Welcome

Corporate Eye Care

If your employees work on visual display units (VDUs), or have to drive for work purposes, it is important to ensure their eyes are healthy and all vision problems are diagnosed, explained and being managed under the guidance of an optometrist.
We'll work closely with you to ensure a high quality service, taking care of your employees’ eyes, and helping you to maximise their productivity. You can be completely confident that our advice and service will always be objective, dependable and tailored to your company's needs.

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Edenred Corporate Eye Examination Vouchers

We accept Edenred eye examination vouchers, which are provided to employees by their company to use to cover the full cost of an eye examination. Our optometrists will conduct our usual eye examination and look at the overall health of your eye at the same time. It is important to get your eyes tested regularly if you work on visual display units (VDUs) or drive for work purposes.
Please remember to bring your eye examination voucher to your appointment.

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Say yes to Contact Lens recycling

We are part of the ACUVUE® Contact Lens Recycle Programme

Our patients and the wider general public are welcome to drop off their contact lens waste (regardless of the brand) at our clinic and we will send them off to be recycled on your behalf.

Did you know 20% of contact lens wearers flush their lenses down the toilet, others simply dump them in the bin after use. Because contact lenses are not biodegradable they end up in our rivers, seas and oceans. Being denser than water, they drift to the bottom and are consumed by creatures who mistake micro-plastics for food. This can have adverse effects on the food chain and the environment. Recycling contact lenses helps break this chain of events.

We’re looking to a greener future.

Book an Eye Care Appointment

Book your eye care appointment online

Book Appointment

Service Price
Emergency Eye Appointment £60
Eye Examination with OCT Scan £90
Eye Examination with OCT Scan and Contact Lens Aftercare £140
Initial Contact Lens Fitting Consultation £150
Contact Lens Aftercare £50

Fleet Street Clinic is not a VAT registered company

Optometrists

When it comes to your health, experience is everything.

Experience translates into good clinical judgement, early and accurate diagnosis, timely treatment, and excellent, all-round care. It also brings fast access to a broad network of world-class specialists across the full range of medical and surgical disciplines.

When it comes to delivering excellence in private medical care, experience counts.
FAQs

An eye examination will help assess your vision but also reveal vital information about your overall eye health as well as your general health, such as diabetes and blood pressure. Vision can change rather rapidly and it is important to ensure that you have the most up-to-date and accurate prescription to prevent any further problems with your eyesight.

A regular eye examination is important, even when you feel that you can see well. Generally speaking, you should have an eye examination every two years unless advised to have one sooner by your optometrist. Certain people may require more regular eye examinations, such as those with diabetes or those with a family history of glaucoma. If you have any obvious changes to your vision then you should seek attention immediately.

Over time, diabetes can cause damage to your eyes that can lead to poor vision or even blindness. Around 1 in 5 people with type 2 diabetes experience problems with their eyes and vision. It is recommended that those with diabetes have more frequent eye examinations to monitor for diabetic eye diseases.

Yes. During your appointment, the optometrist will show you how to insert and remove your contact lenses and then ask you to demonstrate this several times until they are sure you are comfortable doing it yourself. You will also have a follow-up aftercare appointment to check how you are getting on with them.

Because you are inserting something into your eye using your finger, wearing contact lenses can make you more susceptible to eye infections. Good hygiene and a thorough eye care regime are therefore essential to help contact lens wearers prevent infection. You can help avoid infection by always washing your hands thoroughly before handling your contact lenses, and ensuring you clean and store your lenses properly. The optometrist will discuss this in greater detail with you during your appointment. There is the option for daily contact lenses which are single-use and do not require overnight cleaning or storing – they get thrown away at the end of the day.

Absolutely. There are several reasons for still needing glasses, such as your eyes needing to rest, and taking occasional breaks from wearing contact lenses. They are also good just in case you develop an eye infection or injury, or have seasonal allergies, or anything else that requires you to temporarily stop wearing contact lenses. It is important to have a backup that can aid your vision if, for whatever reason, you are unable to wear your contact lenses.

Your spectacle and contact lens prescription will most likely be different, this is due to how close they sit to your eyes. As contact lenses fit directly onto the surface of the eye and glasses sit further away on the bridge of your nose, the prescriptions are most likely to be independent of one another, and therefore not interchangeable.

Yes. Many people with astigmatism choose to correct their vision with contact lenses. Not all contact lenses are suitable for astigmatism, so your optometrist can discuss the options available and advise on what might best suit you during your appointment.

Yes, we are able to add a prescription to any of the sunglasses we sell. If we do not have a style that you like, you can bring in a pair of sunglasses you’d like us to adapt into prescription sunglasses.

Please bring these with you to your appointment.

The first proper eye examination is usually recommended for children around age 4. If you have any concerns about your child’s vision, then book an appointment as soon as possible. We are a family-friendly clinic and all our optometrists have a wealth of experience examining children’s eyes.

This is not a service that we offer ourselves, however we would be able to refer you if you require this service. Please speak to your optometrist at your next eye appointment.