Dedicated over 30 years to delivering top-quality service and eye care

After a decade building up a loyal following at Gregory & Seeley thanks to her scrupulous attention to detail, leading young optometrist Gillian Whitby launches her own optical practice. She shares 29 Fleet Street – Grade II listed and steeped in history – with medical practice Fleet St Clinic. Outside the 1860 building hangs Whitby & Co’s distinctive sign – vintage-style giant spectacles.

Women’s Journal features some accomplished young women setting up their own businesses – including Gillian Whitby

Our first film role: supporting the production of an award-winning BBC TV two-part feature film starring James Bolam, ‘The Missing Postman’. This requires Whitby & Co to produce multiple versions of identically shattered glasses to maintain continuity for the lead character throughout the shoot.

Whitby & Co. is appointed to look after Prime Minister Tony Blair’s eye health, and in providing his first ever pair of glasses and delivering them to him at 10 Downing Street we make national news. Tony Blair is evidently so impressed with the service he received that he sends a handwritten thank-you note to our practice – proudly displayed in the reception area.

Optician magazine features a series entitled ‘Diary of a New Practice’, highlighting the establishment and progress of Whitby & Co. Optician.

We look after a journalist taken hostage for six weeks in the aftermath of the Iraq war. Many of our patients are journalists – as you might expect in Fleet Street, historically the heart of Britain’s newspaper industry.

On 4^th March, our practice is transformed into a location set for two days of filming for an episode of ‘Inspector Lewis’  in which the murder victim is married to an optometrist…

We are appointed to provide 24/7 care for 3,500 international staff at the London Olympics, covering the five-month lead-up as well as the Games themselves.

Behind the scenes, Whitby & Co. achieves ISO 9001 accreditation – an internationally recognised quality assurance standard demonstrating commitment to continual improvement driven by customers’ needs.

Like many of our customers we are aware of and keen to reduce the amount of waste involved in the production and use of contact lenses. In joining  the Acuvue Contact Lens Recycle Programme we encourage customers and the public alike to drop off their used contact lenses and packaging – regardless of brand – at our clinic for us to recycle.

We are proud to keep our doors open throughout the entire Covid-19 pandemic, ensuring all our customers access to routine check-ups, emergency appointments, and eye care supplies such as contact lenses and eye drops.

Rebranding and new logos open eyes to how our partnership with Fleet Street Clinic, whose medics and laboratories are in the same building, make us a one-stop destination for eye-care as well as appointments with doctors and private GPs.

Investing in the latest optical coherence tomography (OCT) technology not only sharpens our diagnostic capabilities but also puts us at the forefront of optometric innovation, inspiring us to reach the highest global standards of clinical excellence.

The Whitby & Co. team proudly achieves ISO 27001 certification, meeting some of the highest quality standards in the world, with a particular emphasis on excellent IT security practice across the business.  Cool, huh?