About us

Andrea moved down from Manchester in early 1999 to be with her now husband, John Clamp. Having made plans to purchase and build her own practice in Manchester, Andrea’s thoughts turned to Cambridge. Having worked in a number of practices in the area, Andrea decided on and agreed to buy the practice, formerly called Jackson Cox, in April 2002 from Mr. Bryan Storey. The practice itself was established in 1908 by Mr. Hyman who interestingly, during the first world war, designed and manufactured a type of range finder in the basement for the British Military.

Andrea’s main aim is to create a practice which is clinically excellent and still manages to offer a very friendly and individual service to its customers. With this in mind, the practice was completely refitted during the first 2 months of 2002. During this period, space was very limited but with the kind support of both the customers and staff, the re-fit was a success. Throughout the whole process, the progress of the practice was followed by the UK’s optometric profession through a series of articles entitled ‘The Making of a Modern Practice’ written for the leading optical journal ‘Optician’.

This is not the first time the Clamp name has been associated with an Optometric practice in Cambridge. Geoffrey Haldyn Clamp, Andrea’s father in law, established a practice in Bridge Street in the late sixties. He was joined by David Thomas as a partner in 1973 and then moved to the site in Green Street. David succeeded to this business in 1978, when it became ‘D.H. Thomas Opticians’. Some customers still remember being tested and fitted with contact lenses by Geoff in the past. Andrea is very proud to continue the name.

Andrea’s interests also lie with bringing new and exciting brands of frames to Cambridge. It is her firm belief that eyewear is not only functional, but can be fun and look great!

Please do not hesitate to come into the shop to look around. Our friendly staff will be more than happy to advise you on different frames, lenses and contact lenses.