Rayner Newsroom

Rayner Intraocular Lenses Limited (Rayner) is pleased to note that Dr Uday Bhatt was chosen as the first recipient of the Ian Collins Rayner UKISCRS Fellowship.

The first Rayner Company was founded in 1910, when British optician Mr John Baptiste Reiner and American-born Mr Charles Davis Keeler opened their first optician’s shop at No 9, Vere Street, London, England. They registered their company as Reiner & Keeler Ltd on the 28th September 1910. Before forming the company, J.B. Reiner had completed an apprenticeship in ‘the art of an optician and scientific instrument maker’ in 1891 and had gone on to work for E.B. Meyrowitz Ltd, a branch of a well known American optical company.

Today, during Prime Minister Questions, the sixtieth anniversary of the IOL was mentioned and recorded by Hansard:

Rayner celebrated 60 years of continuous manufacture of intraocular lenses at a special reception and banquet in Brighton’s Royal Pavilion today with the Award ceremony of the 2009 Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade.

Sunday 29th November 2009 will mark the 60th anniversary of the implantation of the first intraocular lens (IOL) by Sir Harold Ridley on 29th November 1949. That first lens was implanted at St Thomas’s Hospital London.

Two representatives from Rayner Intraocular Lenses Limited were invited to attend a reception at Buckingham Palace in recognition of the company’s winning the 2009 Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade. The prestigious award recognises sustained growth in international trade in overseas markets and growing commercial success. Rayner is the only British manufacturer of Intraocular Lenses (IOLs) – implants that replace the eye’s natural lens during cataract surgery.

Only British company manufacturing intraocular lenses, restoring sight to millions worldwide

Hove, United Kingdom, 21 April: Today the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise is awarded to Rayner Intraocular Lenses Limited, placing it among the most successful businesses in the United Kingdom.