Doug Perkins his wife in 1984. The company turned into 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." With his wife Mary, Perkins reside in Guernsey, U.K.. They have a son, John, and two daughters, Cathy and Julie. Doug Perkins Douglas John David Perkins (born April 1943) is a British billionaire businessman. He is the co-founder of Specsavers, an international optical retail chain. Douglas John David Perkins was born in April 1943
Specsavers family control of the firm, which currently employs all three of their children in senior roles. Continued expansion into Europe is planned. It is also intended that the company will continue to supply hearing aids. The Perkinses attribute their success to their franchise model, and to the deregulation of the UK Opticians market by the Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, allowing opticians to use previously forbidden advertising and marketing techniques to rapidly take over a market that had belonged to independent local opticians. The Perkins have said of the remaining local opticians that "their days are numbered",