Douglas John David Perkins (born April 1943) is a Welsh billionaire businessman. He is the co-founder of

Specsavers Specsavers Optical Group Ltd is a British multinational optical retail chain, which operates mainly in the UK, Ireland, Australasia and the Nordic countries. The chain offers optometry and optician services for eyesight testing and sells gl ...

, an international optical retail chain.

Early life

Douglas John David Perkins was born in April 1943 in

Llanelli Llanelli (" St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarth ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. His father was a policeman and his grandparents were farmers in the county. He was educated at the Llanelli Boys Grammar School, and he graduated from Cardiff University.

Career

Perkins began his career as an optometrist in Llanelli and Carmarthen. In the 1970s, he took over his father-in-law's optician store in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

and subsequently opened 22 stores. Perkins co-founded

with his wife

Mary Perkins Dame Mary Lesley Perkins, (born 14 February 1944) is an English billionaire who is the co-founder of Specsavers, the British retail optometry chain. Together with her husband, co-founder and chairman Doug Perkins, Dame Mary has three childre ...

in 1984. The company became an international chain of opticians, making them both billionaires. As of April 2016, they have an estimated wealth of £1.55 billion according to the Sunday Times Rich List. In spite of being a billionaire, Perkins calls himself "working-class."

Personal life

Perkins lives in Guernsey with his wife Mary. They have a son, John, and two daughters, Cathy and Julie.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perkins, Doug 1943 births Living people Alumni of Cardiff University British retail company founders Guernsey people People from Llanelli Welsh billionaires Welsh company founders