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Optical Equipment

Volume 171: debated on Wednesday 25 April 1990

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To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) shops and (b) manufacturers dealing with optical equipment were trading in Britain in 1987; and what are the current figures.

[holding answer 20 April 1990]: What information is available is shown in the table.

Total number of legal units registered for VAT as at end of April 1989
198711989
(a) Shops
Opticians22,2002,476
Chemists and photographic shops8,7178,528
(b) Manufacturers
Surgical instruments and appliances409402
Scientific and industrial instruments and systems2,8072,961
Photographic and document copying equipment124155
1 Latest year for which figures are available.
2 Opticians were not required to register for VAT in 1987. This figure, which is comparable to that shown for 1989, is estimated from entries in the Opticians Register for 1987.

Source: CSO Register of Businesses.