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We had a look at a range of fantastic pillows, travel pillows and headboards from Sound Asleep that came with built-in speakers. I was then pointed in the direction of Sound Pillow, who also make an integrated pillow speaker –designed for tinnitus sufferers but popular with festival goers, travellers and students. You can check out the £27.99 pillow here.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Publisher: Mature Times
A pillow originally designed for people suffering from Tinnitus has become a huge hit with long haul travellers and bedtime listeners of radio and mp3 players. The “sound pillow” can be attached to an iPod, mp3 player or personal stereo, with the sound coming from speakers stitched inside the pillow. It is designed so the user can hear what is being played but it is not loud enough to disturb other people nearby.
HearingDirect.com, which sells discounted hearing aids and products online, has seen a boom in orders since it started selling the pillow two weeks ago. However, as well as being popular with tinnitus sufferers, many requests have so far been from people who simply enjoy listening to soft music whilst they are resting or from people who do not want the discomfort of wearing headphones on long haul flights. The pillow is also being used by travellers wanting to brush up on their foreign language skills before they reach their holiday destination.
The sound pillow was initially aimed at helping the estimated 5million people in the UK who suffer from tinnitus which is described as high pitched ringing, whistling or buzzing sounds in the ears. Tinnitus sufferers often struggle to sleep and find listening to music or relaxing sounds at night help to drown out the noises but don’t want to disturb their partner.
Tuesday, August 4, 2010
Publisher: Mature Times
STRUGGLING to follow conversation and straining to hear the TV were the first signs that John Shute was losing his hearing.
But for years, he made do by lip reading and turning the volume up.
And he's is not alone - he is one of nine million deaf or hard of hearing people in the UK.
According to the UK Council on Deafness, 800 people in every 10,000 have trouble following conversations in large groups or noisy situations, and many of those people find lip reading or hearing aids helpful.
Mr Shute, 72, said: "When you're hard of hearing you have to look at the face of the person speaking to you and read their lips to try to compensate. It helps but you can't beat hearing what they're actually saying.
"You don't expect to hear every single word even with decent hearing so your brain makes up what you think you hear.
"It could embarrassing because people would ask something and I'd give an answer to another question I thought they'd asked."
Mr Shute said it was his wife who first noticed he had trouble hearing what she said and how loud he needed to have the TV.
He said: "I tried quite a few hearing aids over the years and to be honest they'd been a total waste of time and money in terms of the quality of hearing.
"I'd given up but my wife said I needed my hearing checking again. She saw an advert for HearingDirect.com so I took a test on the website and it was quite revealing to see what loss of hearing I actually had."
Mr Shute, of Low Road, Thornhill Edge, bought two hearing aids through the website which made a 'phenomenal' difference to his daily life.
He said: "When you suffer hearing loss gradually over the years, you don't realise just how bad it is.
"Hearing aids can never give you perfect hearing back but it goes a long, long way to making life a lot more tolerable. And, of course, my wife doesn't complain about the TV now!"
Mr Shute urged others concerned about their hearing to get their hearing tested.
He said: "When people are hard of hearing they're a little embarrassed to get their hearing checked or to have something in their ears, which I was for many years.
"The hearing aids I've got now are very discreet, nobody would really notice them at all. People shouldn't be embarrassed about it."
Monday, July 12, 2010
Publisher: Dewsbury Reporter
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Publisher: Hampshire Chronicle
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Publisher: BBC
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Publisher: Western Daily Press
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Publisher: BBC
Monday, June 28, 2010
A SOUTH West entrepreneur has called for greater awareness of hearing loss, at the start National Deaf Awareness Week, which begins today.
CBI Young Entrepreneur of the Year Jamie Murray Wells set up HearingDirect.com in February to offer an alternative to £1,000 hearing aids from the high street or long waiting times and a lack of product choice on the NHS.
The former University of West England student is deaf in one ear.
He said: "Hearing loss can be very isolating and frustrating and many people wait up to 15 years before even admitting that they need a hearing aid
"Others continue to suffer in silence because they are concerned about the stigma of wearing a hearing aid, but Deaf Awareness Week is all about understanding the problems hearing loss causes and finding out what can be done to help."
Hearing Direct is expected to save consumers in the UK about £1.5 million in its first year.
It also sells devices to help people with a severe hearing loss, such as a mobile phone which has a ringtone volume as loud as a pneumatic drill and a home telephone which is as loud as a jet engine.
Publisher: Bristol Evening Post
Saturday, June 26, 2010
A YOUNG entrepreneur, who cut out the middleman to make his fortune selling prescription glasses on the internet, has hit the jackpot again with a new business selling telephones for the deaf that are as loud as a jet engine.
Jamie Murray Wells, whose Glasses Direct business was started in his parents’ home near Malmesbury, is now selling a phone with a top volume of 141 decibels to people with severe hearing loss.
Jamie, 26 who is deaf in one ear, started Hearing Direct back in February, with the aim of providing an online hearing check with an audiologist for people with mild to moderate hearing problems .
It offered them the latest hearing aids cheaper than high street retailers and without a wait for NHS equipment.
He said: "This phone is like a disco in a box. It even has strobe lighting if the noise isn’t enough, meaning that whether or not you are wearing your hearing aid, it is sure to attract your attention."
He added: "It also has a very loud ringtone and there is nothing else quite like it on the market."
Jamie is the current CBI Young Entrepreneur of the Year and Glasses Direct now has offices in London and Swindon. He started the firm in 2004 when he was a university student and was shocked by the price he was charged for a pair of spectacles. He found a laboratory to make prescription glasses and started selling from his parents’ front room.
A year later it had a new home, a team of dispensing opticians and a turnover of more than £1 million.
Publisher: Wiltshire Gazette and Herald
Thursday, June 17, 2010
A YOUNG entrepreneur, who cut out the middleman to make his fortune selling prescription glasses on the internet, has hit the jackpot again with a new business selling telephones for the deaf that are as loud as a jet engine.
Jamie Murray Wells, whose Glasses Direct business was started in his parents’ home near Malmesbury, is now selling a phone with a top volume of 141 decibels to people with severe hearing loss.
Jamie, 26 who is deaf in one ear, started Hearing Direct back in February, with the aim of providing an online hearing check with an audiologist for people with mild to moderate hearing problems .
It offered them the latest hearing aids cheaper than high street retailers and without a wait for NHS equipment.
He said: "This phone is like a disco in a box. It even has strobe lighting if the noise isn’t enough, meaning that whether or not you are wearing your hearing aid, it is sure to attract your attention."
He added: "It also has a very loud ringtone and there is nothing else quite like it on the market."
Jamie is the current CBI Young Entrepreneur of the Year and Glasses Direct now has offices in London and Swindon. He started the firm in 2004 when he was a university student and was shocked by the price he was charged for a pair of spectacles. He found a laboratory to make prescription glasses and started selling from his parents’ front room.
A year later it had a new home, a team of dispensing opticians and a turnover of more than £1 million.
Publisher: Wiltshire and Gloucestershire Standard
Monday, June 7, 2010
It is not the flashiest phone on the market but for elderly customers the GeeMarc Clearsound is the most popular.
The device has an extra loud ringtone of 100 decibels-equivalent to a pneumatic drill or a passing train. It is deliberately low-tech and features large buttons for those with poor dexterity and a clear screen for those with limited eyesight.
The phone, £89.99 from hearingdirect.com, was the result of please from older customers and the hard of hearing for something simple and easy to use. For them it is a godsend but for those who are sitting close by when it rings, it could be a shock.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
A MOBILE phone with a ringtone that hits 100 decibels has become a hit with the elderly and hard of hearing.
The Clearsound CL8200 is believed to be the loudest phone on the market with a ring sound as loud as a road drill.
British company Geemarc, based in Hertfordshire, has manufactured the gadget with older people in mind.
It claims the £89.99 handset is one of the easiest mobiles to use because of its simple design.
They are being sold on the internet, through websites such as that operated by the Royal National Institute for Deaf people and Hearingdirect.com, a seller of discounted hearing aids. Thousands of the phones have been sold by the RNID while the discount site has also reported a big increase in the number of visitors since they began selling them last week.
Hearingdirect.com chairman Jamie Murray Wells said: “It’s going to be a big seller.
“A lot of customers who are hard of hearing were fed up with unnecessary technology on other mobile phones and wanted a simple phone they could hear, make calls from and receive texts.
“They were tired of missing calls and fiddling with small buttons.”
Geemarc has more than 25 products in its Clearsound range, including phones for the home.
Publisher: The Daily Express
Friday, June 4, 2010
A mobile phone with a ringtone as loud as a pneumatic drill is proving a hit among the elderly and hard of hearing.
The Geemarc Clearsound CL8200 has a top volume of 100 decibels, roughly the same as a speeding train, as well as large buttons.
It is designed for those with hearing loss, failing eyesight and limited dexterity, allowing users who find normal mobile phones too complex or quiet to make and receive calls.
The phone, which is manufactured by the British Company in Hertfordshire, has been on sale for a few months at specialist websites including the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, which says it has sold thousands. Hearingdirect.com, which sells discounted hearing aids and other accessories, said that it had seen twice as many visitors to its site since the phone was launched.
Jamie Murray Wells, company chairman, said: “A lot of customers who were hard of hearing were fed up ... and wanted a simple phone they could hear, make calls from and receive texts.” The £89.99 phone also has an extra loud speakerphone function, is hearing aid compatible and, in case it does need to be silent, a vibrate setting.
Publisher: The Times
Friday, June 4, 2010
A mobile phone designed for older users - with a ringtone of 100 decibels, as loud as a pneumatic drill or speeding train - has gone on sale.
The mobile phone, which also has large buttons and a big screen for the short-sighted, has been manufactured by a British company to appeal for the millions of elderly people who find modern mobile phones far too complex as well as far too quiet.
The Geemarc Clearsound CL8200 is understood to be the loudest mobile phone on the market.
It has been on sale for a few months at specialist websites, including the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, where it has sold thousands thanks to the fact it is compatible with hearing aids. The charity estimates that there are nine million deaf or hard of hearing in Britain.
Since it went on sale last week at hearingdirect.com, which sells discounted hearing aids, traffic to the website has doubled.
Jamie Murray Wells, the chairman of HearingDirect.com, said: “We have found a lot of our customers who are hard of hearing were fed up with the amount of unnecessary technology on other mobile phones and wanted a simple phone they could hear ringing, make calls and receive texts. They were tired of missing calls because they could not hear the ring and fiddling with small buttons. We think it's going to be a big seller."
As well as the ultra-loud ringtone, the phone also has a loud receiving tone, allowing listeners to hear their caller louder than normal. This volume is 25 decibels, compared with a standard 8 to 10 decibel standard volume.
A spokesman for Geemarc, which is based in Hertfordshire, said: "There is a real need for a phone that doesn't look like a disability phone, but which is really simple to use. There are a lot of elderly people frustrated at iPhones, and smart phones which can practically boil a kettle but are very difficult to use if you are hard of hearing or short sighted."
The phone costs £89.99, and comes with a pay-as-you-go SIM card, with £5 worth of credit. It is also compatible with any other SIM card.
Publisher: Daily Telegraph
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Publisher: BBC
Friday, May 21, 2010
A NEW online company, looking to challenge the likes of Specsavers and Boots by selling cut-priced hearing aids, has picked Sutton Scotney as its headquarters.
Hearing Direct, launched in February, is the latest venture to be set up by the cur rent CBI Young Entrepreneur of the Year, 26-year-old Jamie Murray Wells.
He is behind the hit online prescription spectacle retailer Glasses Direct, which he set up in his parents’ sitting room, in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, in 2004.
Under-cutting high street retailers, fast growing Hearing Direct is set to move its base from Aylesbury to Sutton Scotney, just outside Basingstoke, which will act as its dispatch and enquiry handling centre.
Jamie said: “After looking at various sites around the UK, we’re really excited to have settled on Sutton Scotney for our new headquarters.
“Its access to the A34 means we have superb transport links, enabling quick dispatch of our products across the UK and Europe.
“As the business continues to grow, we hope there may be an opportunity in the future for employment from the local community.”
To find out more visit www.hearingdirect.com
Publisher: Southern Echo
Thursday, May 20, 2010
A NEW online company, looking to challenge the likes of Specsavers and Boots by selling cut-priced hearing aids, has picked Sutton Scotney as its headquarters.
Hearing Direct, launched in February, is the latest venture to be set up by the current CBI Young Entrepreneur of the Year, 26-year-old Jamie Murray Wells.
He is behind the hit online prescription spectacle retailer Glasses Direct, which he set up in his parents’ sitting room, in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, in 2004.
Under-cutting high street retailers, fast growing Hearing Direct is set to move its base from Aylesbury to Sutton Scotney, just outside Basingstoke, which will act as its dispatch and enquiry handling centre.
Jamie said: “After looking at various sites around the UK, we’re really excited to have settled on Sutton Scotney for our new headquarters.
“Its access to the A34 means we have superb transport links, enabling quick dispatch of our products across the UK and Europe.
“As the business continues to grow, we hope there may be an opportunity in the future for employment from the local community.”
Publisher: Basingstoke Gazette
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
According to the Royal National Institute for the Deaf, more than 8 million people in the UK have “mild to moderate” hearing loss and would benefit from a hearing aid, but despite a well publicised push by the government to reduce waiting times, newly published figures from the Department of Health reveal it still takes an average of almost five weeks to be fitted with a hearing aid on the NHS, and in some areas of the UK can take as long as 18 weeks.
Perhaps even more significant for those needing a hearing aid is the lack of product choice in terms of size, style and design. For those who can not or do not want to wait, or prefer to select a style and size for themselves, the alternative is to buy a hearing aid privately from a high street retailer.
However, with the average hearing aid from the high street costing around £1,100 – a ten-fold markup on manufacturing costs - many are unwilling or unable to buy them. Thousands of people are therefore simply going without and their hearing loss is causing a strain on their families, leading to isolation, depression and even marriage breakdown. For many, there is also a stigma attached to wearing hearing aids, and a denial that they would benefit from using one.
Nowhelp is at hand from a new online service called Hearingdirect.com, aimed at drastically cutting the price of hearing aids and challenging a market which has not changed for 50 years. Jamie Murray Wells, the 26-year-old pioneer behind the highly successful online spectacle retailer Glasses Direct, has teamed up with three experts in the hearing aid industry to sell £1,000 digital hearing aids from just £99. He hopes HearingDirect.com will revolutionise the hearing aid industry by giving the public quick and easy online hearing checks and the latest hearing aids.
Murray Wells and his team refute the claims by high street retailers that their high prices reflect the fact their hearing aids are “bespoke” and programmed to each person. Instead, he argues that the vast majority of those who have a mild to moderate hearing loss do not need a programmed hearing aid to hear a marked improvement in their hearing and that pre-programmed hearing aids will significantly improve someone’s hearing.
This is clinically backed up by an independent study published in Germany which tested a pre-programmed automatic hearing aid and an expensive programmed hearing aid, and concluded that user "heard" little difference.
Since its launch in February, HearingDirect.com has already caused a big stir in the industry with many hearing aid experts coming out to support the brave move to break the stranglehold of the retail giants on the high street. It has also proved hugely popular with the public.
Publisher: Mature Times
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
A TORQUAY pensioner who was told he would have to wait more than a year for hearing aids on the NHS is hearing again thanks to a new cut-price online service launched by a South West entrepreneur.
Albert Field, 70, of Higher Erith Road, Torquay, and a former surveyor in the Royal Engineers, decided to have his hearing tested after years of struggling with it failing.
"My hearing was damaged by years of being in the Army and working on open cast coal mines. I found, about 20 years ago, I was having difficulty hearing in a crowded atmosphere."
He was told by Torbay Hospital of the long waiting list, so he decided to go a high street retailer, where he was charged £1,000 for hearing aids which didn't work properly, he says.
When his wife Joyce, 80, who has been deaf in one ear since childhood, was told that the hearing on her other side was failing, the couple decided to look at a cheaper option.
"We saw an advert in a magazine which I think was the Radio Times, about a company called Hearing Direct," said Albert.
The company hopes to revolutionise the hearing aid market, currently worth £210million a year, by undercutting high street prices by up to 90 per cent and offering a service to people who do not want to wait for NHS treatment, which can take up to 18 weeks.
Since it launched in February, the company has already sold more than 30 devices to customers in the Torquay area alone — more than any other town in the UK.
By offering online hearing tests and doing away with shops, the company is able to offer high-quality digital aids which normally retail for more than £1,000 for as little as £99.
"The service has proved to be exceptional. I wrote and thanked them for everything the company has done.
"Losing my hearing was difficult, I found it hard to hear exactly what people were saying so I would just say 'yes, yes' which got quite embarrassing and I suppose it also affected my confidence. But now I can hear again.
"I would recommend this service to anyone to is suffering impaired hearing."
Joyce Field paid £225 for a single digital hearing aid from Hearing Direct and was so pleased with the results that Albert is now testing a similar device with a volume control.
"Price is the big issue for us," said Albert. "The same model on the high street would cost £1,000. We also both enjoy dancing and we've noticed a big improvement in the quality of sound."
Customers may benefit from a hearing aid by taking the free online hearing check on the website.
Publisher: Western Morning News
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
IN the army and civilian life Albert Field’s ears were exposed to deafening noise. He was a surveyor in the Royal Engineers for 17 years and did regular firearms training with sub-machine guns and rifles. After he left the services his hearing was again put at risk as his job took him to open-cast coal mines, where there were explosions and loud heavy machinery.
“We didn’t wear ear defenders until right at the end of my time in the forces,” recalls Albert, now 70. “It’s quite likely that my military background and later work damaged my hearing.”
In his early 50s, Albert began to notice he was struggling to hear when there was a noisy background and needed the television volume turned up.
“It was very difficult in crowded places. It became embarrassing just nodding or shaking my head, hoping that was the right response when someone was talking to me.”
After struggling on for years, Albert decided to have a hearing test. He found there was a year-long wait on the NHS and decided to go private. A high street test showed he needed hearing aids in both ears and he opted to pay for the latest digital models at a cost of about £1,000.
“It was a ‘two-for-one’ offer but I was still shocked by the price,” says Albert from Torquay, Devon. “I felt I had no choice. The new devices helped but because they didn’t have a volume control I still had problems in noisy surroundings.”
When his wife Joyce, 80, who has been deaf in one ear since childhood, was told that the hearing on her other side was failing the couple decided to look at a cheaper option.
She became one of the first customers of new online company HearingDirect (www.hearingdirect.com) which claims it will revolutionise the hearing aid market, currently worth £210million a year, by undercutting high street prices.
By offering online hearing tests and doing away with shops the company says it is able to offer high-quality digital aids which normally retail for more than £1,000 for less than £250. However critics fear patients won’t get proper fitting or after-care.
Joyce paid £225 for a single digital hearing aid and was so pleased with the results that Albert is now testing a similar device with a volume control. “Price is the big issue for us,” says Albert. “The same model on the high street would cost £1,000. We also both enjoy dancing and we’ve noticed a big improvement in the quality of sound.”
HearingDirect founder Jamie Murray Wells, who has used the same model to successfully sell glasses via the internet, says: “We aim to offer savings of 75 per cent. We believe people have been paying too much for hearing aids and are being sold expensive devices they don’t really need.”
Customers take an online hearing test lasting about five minutes. If it shows a hearing problem they are offered a pre-programmed hearing aid but there is no custom fitting or face-to-face contact.
“The test has been developed by audiologists,” says Jamie. “It simulates background noise and we believe it’s as good as anything on the high street.”
He says there is nothing to stop customers ordering several models trying them at home and keeping the most suitable one. Because most people suffer mild to moderate hearing loss, they don’t need costly custom-made models, he says. “The models we offer will suit the vast majority of people. We expect some customers will also have tests done elsewhere and come to us with their requirements to save money.”
It’s estimated that almost nine million people in the UK suffer from hearing loss but many wait for up to 15 years before seeking help, often because there is still a stigma about wearing an aid.
However the latest digital models, which are becoming more widely available on the NHS, are much more discreet and can filter out background noise more efficiently than older analogue models.
The deaf charity RNID argues that online hearing tests should only be the first step and hearing aids should be custom-fitted.
“We believe an online test can only indicate a hearing problem, not provide a diagnosis,” says Roger Wicks, the RNID’s policy and research director. “You need to tailor each hearing aid to the precise hearing loss.”
The RNID advises people to seek NHS treatment, pointing out that waiting times have fallen since Albert was first diagnosed two years ago.
“No one should have to wait more than 18 weeks for a test and fitting,” says Roger.
Publisher: Daily Express
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Publisher: Daily Mail
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Website of the Week: www.hearingdirect.com
Aimed at the eight million people in the UK with mild or moderate hearing loss, a three-minute online hearing check allows you to establish whether you might be helped by a hearing aid. You can then order from a range of the latest digital hearing aids at a fraction of prices found on the high street (£99 compared to £1,100) delivered to your door.
Publisher: Birmingham Evening Mail
Thursday, March 11, 2010
The judges liked Jamie’s style.
“You have to keep customers happy,” he says. “Without them you have nothing.”
Today Jamie is also celebrating the launch of his second business baby Hearing Direct (www.hearingdirect.com).
“When I heard that it can cost more than £2,000 to have a hearing aid fitted I knew there had to be a way to cut that down. Sure enough our prices start at £99. It’s been up and running a few weeks and already we’ve had thousands of queries.”
Publisher: Daily Mirror
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
A CHARLTON entrepreneur has unveiled a new objective - to cut the cost of hearing aids to those who need them.
Jamie Murray Wells, the 26-year-old pioneer behind online spectacle retailer Glasses Direct, has teamed up with three experts in the hearing aid industry to launch a new website selling digital hearing aids from just £99.
The average price for equivalent products sold by high street retailers is £1,100.
Mr Murray Wells now hopes HearingDirect.com will revolutionise the hearing aid industry by giving the public quick and easy online hearing checks and the latest hearing aids.
He said: "More than eight million people in the UK have some degree of hearing loss. I want to turn the industry on its head and offer people a much better value for their money.
"It is often the elderly and vulnerable who need hearing aids and this company is putting their needs first."
Mr Murray Wells has already saved the UK consumer more than £40million with his Charlton Park-based award winning online spectacles retailer Glasses Direct which he launched in 2004.
Customers take an online hearing test to establish their need. If a hearing aid is needed, prices start from just £99.
"I didn’t grow up wanted to be an optician or an audiologist," Mr Murray Wells added.
"But I noticed it is these industries where the customer is not getting a good deal.
"The hearing aid industry has not changed in 50 years and I wanted to put some dynamite beneath it.
‘The company is in its first stages and I am finding it all incredibly exciting."
Publisher: Wiltshire and Gloucestershire Standard
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
The entrepreneur wants his new business to replicate the disruptive success of Glasses Direct
Web entrepreneur Jamie Murray Wells made his name undercutting high-street opticians. Now he’s attempting to do the same for the hearing aid market with a new start-up, Hearing Direct. Murray Wells wants to mimic the success of Glasses Direct by offering customers cheaper hearing devices direct over the internet. With Hearing Direct, says Murray Wells, “you get a hearing aid for a tenth of the price of the high street, and that’s £100-200 of state of the art digital equipment.”
The direct model, he adds, is about “taking an industry and turning it on its head.” Murray Wells estimates that he’s already saved consumers around £40m with Glasses Direct. But the start-up was poorly received by incumbent opticians, who bristled at the entrepreneur’s labelling of their services as expensive. According to Murray Wells, pressure from high-street rivals persuaded suppliers to stop doing business with him, which forced Glasses Direct to suspend trading for two weeks.
Hearing Direct has similar potential for market disruption. According to the Royal National Institute for the Deaf, about one in seven of the population suffers from hearing loss. Murray Wells hopes to find a niche position between those customers that don’t want to wait for a NHS hearing device (according to Hearing Direct, NHS waiting times vary “between two weeks and 12 months depending on where you live”) and those that would rather not pay high street prices. According to the company, the average price of a high street hearing device is £1,000............
Publisher: Director Magazine
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Internet entrepreneur Jamie Murray Wells is now competing with Specsavers Boots and Scrivens for a share in the hearing aid market after this month's launch of HearingDirect.com.
Murray Wells said that his company aims to revolutionise the hearing aid industry by offering the public quick and easy hearing checks online and providing hearing aids for as little as 10 per cent of their cost on the high street.
Estimating the UK's annual spend on hearing aids at more than £210m, Murray Wells told Optician: 'The hearing aid market shares a lot of similarities to where the optics market was five to six years ago. I felt a lot of customers were being short changed for their hearing aids.'
The new site is aimed at the eight to 10 million people with mild to moderate hearing loss in the UK 'who don't need the Ferrari service that a lot of hearing aid providers offer'.
Detailing how his site would undercut its competitors, he said: 'Specsavers and Boots can charge from around £1,000 to £3,000 and the average hearing aid bought on the high street is £1,100, our hearing aids start at £99 and go up to £250.'........................................
Publisher: Optician On Line
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Jamie Murray Wells, founder of Glasses Direct and our Young Entrepreneur of the Year, is once again taking on Specsavers and Boots – this time by selling cut-price hearing aids online: “The gloves are on!” he says.
Murray Wells launched HearingDirect.com last week, aimed at the eight million Britons with mild to moderate hearing loss who could benefit from a pre-programmed digital hearing aid.
“The Holy Grail for an entrepreneur is finding an industry which looks as if it has been gathering cobwebs for a while,” he says. “And this sector is ripe for a shake up. The average spend on a new hearing-aid device is £1k-3k. But they cost just £100-150 to make. The margins are extortionate. It’s a complete scam.”
Murray Wells says he’s been sniffing around for a new business opportunity since “the moment I launched Glasses Direct”.
“I had to gauge the right time to start a new venture,” he adds. “Glasses Direct is now a big brand. I'm still the executive chairman – but it’s secure enough for me to turn my hand to something new.”
The 26-year-old entrepreneur, who is a member of George Osborne’s New Enterprise Council, has teamed up with Stuart Canterbury and Gary Hill, both formerly of hearing aid manufacturing firm GN ReSound, and audiologist Joan McKechnie.
Murray Wells says HearingDirect.com will give the public quick and easy online hearing checks. The actual devices cost between £99 and £249 – and profit margins are still about 50 per cent. All products have a 30-day money-back guarantee
When we ask Murray Wells where the hearing devices are manufactured, he refuses to reveal his suppliers. “In the early days of setting up Glasses Direct, my main supplier mysteriously dropped me. They suddenly said they couldn’t do business with me – I reckon they had pressure put on them by a high-street chain. It took me a week to find a new supplier and re-do the website. I’m scared of that happening again.”
Publisher: Real Business Online
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
The young West business tycoon who started a retail revolution by selling glasses online, is about to do the same thing for hearing aids.
Wiltshire entrepreneur Jamie Murray Wells already runs one multi-million pound company, Glasses Direct, whose success is based on winning over new customers by clobbering high street opticians on price.
Mr Murray Wells set the firm up while studying at the University of the West of England in Bristol, when he couldn’t believe how much he would have to pay for spectacles in the High Street.
The venture began in a room of his parents’ home in Malmesbury. But as online shoppers flocked to snap up specs for as little as £19 a pair, Glasses Direct rapidly turned into a business success story which has been held up by Gordon Brown as a shining example of UK entrepreneurship.
Now based in Swindon, the online retailer sells a pair of specs every two minutes around the clock.
Mr Murray Wells believes he can repeat the winning formula in the hearing aid market, and the website for his new company Hearing Direct went live this week.
Mr Murray Wells prides himself as a consumer champion who is determined to put an end to what he sees as the rip-off culture of the high street.
He told the Western Daily Press: “This new business is sorely needed by many people who have poor hearing who are being ripped off on the high street. I was staggered by the cost of hearing aids, and the people who are paying for them are often the most vulnerable.
“The average price on the High Street is £1,100 but state-of-the-art devices can cost under £100 to make.”
Hearing Direct sells aids from £99.
And as you might expect from a retail whizzkid, Mr Murray Wells has correctly gauged the consumer mood. With almost no advance publicity, the Hearing Direct website is already doing brisk trade.
“The website has only just gone live but we are already receiving thousands of pounds of orders every day,” he said.
He says the secrets of his success with Glasses Direct were offering consumers a fair deal on price, and giving them the confidence to buy online with no-hassle money back guarantees, free home trials and product reviews from other customers.
“The challenge was how do you give people the trust to buy online a product that you think you need to touch, feel and test in person. We managed to do that with glasses and now we are doing the same thing with hearing aids.
“What we are really trying to do is open up a stuffy industry and explode an old business model,” he added.
Publisher: Western Daily Press/Bristol Evening Post
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
A friend of Princes William and Harry is taking on ‘rip-off’ High Street giants by selling hearing aids for £99 – which he says is a tenth of the usual price.
Jamie Murray Wells, 26, has already become a multi-millionaire by selling prescription glasses online for £20.
Now he is challenging chains such as Specsavers and Boots again by selling cut-price hearing aids and offering hearing tests online.
Up for a fight: Jamie Murray Wells examines one of his £99 hearing aids
‘When I looked at the hearing aid market, I saw people were being ripped off,’ said Mr Murray Wells.
‘The average spend on a device is more than £1,000 and there is scamming going on whereby adverts placed in magazines offer inferior products for £20, knowing that the consumer will come back and tell them that it’s no good.
‘The company will then send someone round to sell the customer a £2,000 device instead. It’s equivalent to going into an old people’s home and mugging them.
‘I’m up for a fight. Specsavers and the others aren’t giving consumers the deal that they should.’
Mr Murray Wells is a close friend of both Prince William and Harry
He launched HearingDirect.com this month, aiming it at the eight million Britons with mild to moderate hearing loss who, he said, do not need a specially programmed device fitted by a professional, which raises the cost dramatically.
His online hearing test involves picking out a series of numbers spoken against varying levels of background noise.
The hearing aids cost between £99 and £249 and Mr Murray Wells said his profit margin is still about 50 per cent a device.
He set up Glasses Direct in 2004, sparking outrage as he undercut established opticians.
In one publicity stunt, he sent sheep into Specsavers stores in Newcastle upon Tyne to illustrate his belief that customers were being ‘fleeced’.
High Street opticians claimed Glasses Direct was not providing quality products. But Mr Murray Wells now sells a pair of glasses every eight minutes.
Last night Specsavers denied charging over-inflated prices for hearing aids.
A spokeswoman said: ‘Our aim is to provide customers with the best value-for-money solution to their hearing loss, which means low prices without compromising on the professionalism and quality of the service provided.
‘As a result, we are always happy and confident to compare ourselves against other providers who offer a like-for-like service.’
Boots refused to comment on Mr Murray Wells’ allegations about the industry.
A spokeswoman said: ‘With more than 40 years’ experience in providing expert hearing care, Boots offers a large range of products in varying styles and price.’
Publisher: Mail on Sunday
