Blackminster Hearing Centre
professional & expert service with amazingly low, fair prices

For friendly advice or an appointment please call: 01386 830100
Email: richard@blackminster.co.uk

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So who is this person?

Richard Hathway RHAD C.Eng MBCS CITP

So who is this Richard Hathway person anyway?

Is he fully qualified?

How can he offer such low prices?

Well, this web page will cover some of my background. This should reassure you that I am a "real" person!

General information

I'm currently 56, married, with four children who are just starting their first jobs.

Professional Qualifications

My qualifications include:

B.Sc (Hons) in Physics from London University	... a science degree which I obtained a long, long time ago!
C.Eng (Chartered Engineer) - computer systems)	... which indicates that I am highly qualified in digital technology. For example, this allows me to act as an Expert Witness in court cases.
RHAD (Registered Hearing Aid Dispenser)	... which shows that I have completed the required training and I then have passed the required exams ain order to be legally permitted to supply & fit hearing aids in the UK. You can confirm that I really am officially qualified by confirmig my details with the Health Professions Council.

Professional Experience

Many hearing aid dispensers have retrained after a career in another field. I am no exception.
I have had a series of interesting "hi tech" jobs during my past life. I summarise a few of them below:

Research Scientist	My first job after college was at Hirst Research Centre in London where I worked on the design of telephone exchange systems.
Factory Computer Specialist	For several years I worked on the design of advanced factory floor computer systems, mainly to weigh food products.
Banknote Security Specialist	I worked for several years in Germany designing technical systems used by major banks to detect banknote forgeries.
Security Software Specialist	Much of my work involved high security projects, such as encryption and "anti hacking" systems.
Telecommunications Specialist	Almost every major computer system needs to "talk to" other computers via cable or radio connections. I eventually ended up being a specialist in this sort of thing.

My Career Change

My last job in the computer world was as "Senior Technologist" at the mobile phone manufacturer Sendo. (The company was later bought by Motorola).

This was an exciting senior and well paid role ... but one day I suddenly notice that I was nearing 50 .. whilst almost everyone else was in their 30s. This rang some alarm bells ... so I decided to think of a Plan B.

I also felt that I should look for a new role where I could work more with people rather than working almost exclusively with computers.

After a year or so I suddenly realised that digital hearing aids were very similar to mobile phones in technology terms. I therefore looked into how I could enter the world of digital hearing aids ... and my wife suggested that I consider becoming a Registered Hearing Aid Dispenser.

The retraining was horrifically expensive and I certainly didn't enjoy the exams ... but I passed them with flying colours and completed my post-exam training without any problems.

Several years on, I now have a vibrant digital hearing aid dispensing practice and the world of mobile phones is just a dim memory!

I used to spend half of my life either commuting 32 miles to work or sitting in aeroplanes - but now my commute distance is just ... ONE MILE!

The best part of my new career is that I now meet so many nice people ... I feel that have I wasted a big chunk of my life working almost exclusively with computers.

My Style Of Business

I became disillusioned during my training - I couldn't understand why elderly people were being charged so much for digital hearing aids.

I thought about this for a while and decided that I should take a different direction and I would offer good quality digital hearing aids at fair prices.

To offer low prices I need to have low overheads. I therefore don't operate from expensive fancy town centre offices. I have found very pleasant offices at a nice out-of-town Business Park.

The following points explain how I can charge low prices:

My rent and rates are low which saves costs.
I live nearby so I don't spend much on petrol.
I don't have any staff so you don't end up paying for their salaries.
I am fully independent and don't work as part of a "chain". This means that neither I nor you end up paying for layers of managers!
I don't have a luxurious lifestyle, which means that I don't need to take much out of the business.
I don't do "home visits" which saves time and so allows me to spread my overhead costs over more customers, so my prices can be low. (Also, I feel that using portable equipment in people's homes is never going to be as good as being tested & fitted in a well equipped hearing centre)

Overall these points mean that I can charge VERY low prices whist still providing an excellent service.

You can find a bit more about my business approach HERE.

Business Location

I run my hearing aid practice, Blackminster Hearing Centre, from offices at Blackminster Business Park, near Evesham.

The business park is located about 30 miles south of Birmingham and 12 miles from Stratford on Avon.

The towns of Cheltenham, Gloucester, Hereford, Warwick, Coventry are all relatively close.
The M5, M42 and M42 motorways are all easily reachable.
Birmingham Airport is around one hour away by car.

The key points:

You don't need to drive through town to reach my offices
I have easy ground floor access
There is free parking right next to my office
My offices are very well equipped
There is a nice café right next door!

Finally ...

If you have any questions about me or my business, please email me at richard@blackminster.co.uk ... or if urgent, please call me on 01386 830100.

Click here to go to main dispensing web page