There has been further success to celebrate for the 'Musicians Optician' Allegro Optical, as the West Yorkshire company which has gained for itself a worldwide reputation for assisting the needs of performers was recently presented with the prestigious 'Chairman's Special Award' from the Federation of Small Businesses.

Based in the heart of brass band country in Greenfield and Meltham, the presentation was made in London, with special mention made of the literally life threatening challenges they have had to overcome since opening in 2017.

Huge success

Managing Director and respected conductor Stephen Tighe, who co-founded the business with partner Sheryl Doe, fell seriously ill in 2017 just months after opening the first practice.

Such was the seriousness of his condition that his life support machine was tuned off — although his fighting spirit enabled him to beat the odds and make a full recovery to help lead the business with Sheryl to huge success.

Allegro Optical now works closely with the Royal Northern College of Music, Halle Orchestra and Huddersfield Philharmonic amongst others to help musicians who struggle to focus on printed music and written notation due to a variety of eye conditions.

They have since become the only optician to become registered British Association of Performing Arts Medicine practitioners and now also work alongside numerous international ensembles, including English National Ballet Philharmonic and Dublin RTE Concert Orchestra.

We're really proud of how the business has grown so far and with 69 professional musical ensembles in the UK alone we know we are making a significant markAllegro Optical

Strength to strength

At the ceremony National Chairman Mike Cherry said: "The whole team, led by Sheryl and Stephen have pulled together to make sure Allegro Optical is a success, and it's down to them that the businesses has gone from strength to strength.

They not only provide an important community service, but have carved out a niche, providing eye-care to renowned musicians."

Family

In response Sheryl and Stephen told 4BR: "We are so pleased to have won this award. It's been a tough couple of years since we opened in 2017, but the family worked together and the business continued to grow.

We're really proud of how the business has grown so far and with 69 professional musical ensembles in the UK alone we know we are making a significant mark."