Boots Hearingcare brings Sonova's walk-in World of Hearing concept to the UK

Providing customers with a new immersive hearing care experience, utilising state-of-the-art equipment, including a new immersion and experience room and self-screening suites, the World of Hearing clinic store concept has been cultivated since 2018, led by Swiss hearing giant Sonova, parent company of Phonak. After opening stores across Europe, the fitting on the UK-first store took place earlier this year in the former Boots Opticians store on Howardsgate.

Now, in the Hertfordhshire town of Welwyn Garden City, the concept has its own clinic store with exclusive dedication to hearing. In this customer experience, the suites remove the need to book an appointment, with the facilities opening up the opportunity for anyone to get a hearing test and speak with an expert whenever it is convenient for them.

The new Welwyn Garden City clinic will also be where Boots Hearingcare trials its new products and services and develop its staff on the industry’s future technology.

"Revolutionising" how hearing loss is communicated

Rob Skedge, Managing Director of Boots Hearingcare UK and Ireland said the new centre “represents an opportunity for us to revolutionise the way we think about the topic of hearing loss and how we communicate that message to the wider population and those people that need it.”

Skedge referred to the World Report on Hearing, recently published by the World Health Organisation (WHO) which, he says, "really highlighted the importance of hearing care on a global scale. The latest information shows us that one in six of the UK adult population is affected, while it is thought that, specifically within the UK, approximately 600,000 people missed out on vital hearing care because of the COVID-19 pandemic."

“Our long-term goal is to break down the barriers that have been in place and we believe this concept World of Hearing store represents a giant stride towards normalising the way we communicate about hearing care through a far more accessible, customer-centric, and technology-driven experience. It will truly be a fantastic experience and an amazing example of what we see as the future of audiology,” added Skedge.

For a more global understanding of the World of Hearing approach, click here.

Source: Boots Hearingcare