VS Series
Specsavers v Vision Express
Should've gone to... the accounts
Specsavers leads on turnover, pre-tax profit and net assets; Vision Express on profit margin and growth. Specsavers is the biggest by turnover at £4,262m, against £476m at Vision Express. Vision Express keeps more of every £100 it takes, £12.36 as pre-tax profit.
The year ends are close enough to compare like for like. Specsavers files group accounts that include subsidiaries; Vision Express files for a single company, which flatters the group on size.
Accounts compared: Specsavers to Feb 2026 · Vision Express to Dec 2025
Who they are
Specsavers
Specsavers Optical Superstores Limited · 01721624Specsavers is an opticians and hearing care business offering eye tests, glasses, contact lenses and hearing aids through high street stores.In brief: opticians and audiology · glasses, lenses and hearing aids · joint venture stores · family-owned, GuernseyFull profile →Vision Express
Vision Express (UK) Limited · 02189907Vision Express is an optician chain offering eye tests, glasses, contact lenses and hearing services through high street stores and optical centres inside some supermarkets.In brief: optician chain · eye tests, glasses and contact lenses · stores and supermarket sites · owned by EssilorLuxotticaFull profile →The Numbers
The leader on each measure is marked. Movements are against each company's own prior year. Pre-tax profit is filed except where marked (est.).
Category winners
Biggest by turnover
Specsavers
£4,262m
Most pre-tax profit
Specsavers
£430m
Highest profit margin
Vision Express
12.4%
Fastest-growing turnover
Vision Express
+10.8%
Biggest employer
Specsavers
46,616 staff
Highest pay per head
Vision Express
£43,000
Most turnover per head
Vision Express
£123,000
Largest net assets
Specsavers
£358m
Most cash
Specsavers
£233m
The Takeaway
- Vision Express converts the most of its turnover. Of every £100, £12.36 reaches pre-tax profit, against £10.08 at Specsavers.
- Specsavers is the largest on the top line, £4,262m of turnover, 8.9x Vision Express's £476m.
- Vision Express is growing fastest, turnover +10.8% on its own prior year.
- Specsavers is the biggest employer with 46,616 people; Vision Express pays the most per head, an average staff cost of about £43,000.
- Specsavers has the largest balance sheet, net assets of £358m.
Who keeps the most of every £100 of sales?
Vision Express keeps the most: £12.36 of every £100 of turnover becomes pre-tax profit. Specsavers keeps the least, £10.08.
Every profit figure here is the one the company filed.
The chart splits each company's turnover into £100: what goes on people, on interest and on everything else, and what is left as profit.
Out of every £100 of turnover
Each column is £100 of that company's own turnover, so companies of any size compare on one scale; the figures are pounds out of each £100, not millions. Companies run from the best margin to the worst. Payroll is staff costs, financing is interest paid, other running costs are everything else, and profit is pre-tax profit, filed or estimated as marked in the table. A loss is not an extra cost: it is the part of the costs that runs past the £100 line, marked with a red bracket. Hover over any segment for its figure.
Who is the biggest, and does the comparison hold?
By turnover the order is Specsavers (£4,262m), Vision Express (£476m).
By headcount, Specsavers leads with 46,616 employees.
The accounting periods all end within 2 months of each other. The bases differ: group accounts include the businesses a company owns, single-company accounts do not.
Turnover on the latest filing
Who is growing fastest?
Vision Express grew fastest, turnover +10.8% on its own prior year, ahead of Specsavers (+7.0%).
Turnover change on each company's own prior year
Who employs the most, who pays the most, and who brings in the most per head?
Specsavers employs the most, 46,616 people, against 3,873 at Vision Express.
Vision Express has the highest average staff cost, about £43,000 a head; Specsavers the lowest, about £36,000.
Vision Express brings in the most turnover per employee, about £123,000, against £91,000 at Specsavers. It says as much about the business model as the workforce: a marketplace or a wholesaler needs far fewer people per pound than a restaurant or a gym.
Who owns each one?
Ownership as recorded on the Companies House register of people with significant control, in the bands the register uses.
Held by Mr Douglas John David Perkins
An individual recorded as a person with significant control. 1 outstanding charge on the register.
Who owns Specsavers →
Vision Express (UK) Limited · 02189907Held by Vision Express Group Limited
A company recorded as a person with significant control.
Who owns Vision Express →
What does the full ledger show?
| Measure | Specsavers | Vision Express |
|---|---|---|
| Registered name | SPECSAVERS OPTICAL SUPERSTORES LIMITED | VISION EXPRESS (UK) LIMITED |
| Company number | 01721624 | 02189907 |
| Incorporated | 1983 | 1987 |
| Accounts filed | 19 August 2026 | 28 September 2026 |
| Turnover, prior year | £3,985m | £430m |
| Pre-tax profit, prior year | £339m | £39m |
| Staff costs | £1,668m | £168m |
| Payroll share of turnover | 39.1% | 35.3% |
| Employees, prior year | 46,283 | 3,623 |
| Dividends paid | n/d | n/d |
| Charges outstanding | 1 | 0 |
A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d; a zero in a filing is treated as not disclosed. Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, above that to the nearest million.
Specsavers v Vision Express: common questions
Who is the biggest of Specsavers or Vision Express?
Specsavers, with turnover of £4,262m in the year to February 2026.
Which makes the most profit?
Specsavers: £430m pre-tax in the year to February 2026.
Which employs the most people?
Specsavers, with 46,616 employees in its latest accounts.
Specsavers or Vision Express: which is bigger?
Specsavers, with turnover of £4,262m against £476m at Vision Express on their latest filings. On margin, Vision Express keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit. The full head to head is in the VS Series. Read the VS page →
Where do these figures come from?
Each company's latest accounts filed at Companies House. Each links to its full Spark Intel profile, which names the filing it comes from.