Valuation: DAYSOFT LIMITED

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Daysoft designs, manufactures and sells daily-disposable contact lenses direct to consumers from its own UK laboratory in Scotland. Revenue is generated through one-off purchases and flexible subscriptions via daysoft.com, with the company claiming over 50,000 customers per month and 1.2 billion lenses sold to date. The vertically integrated model, manufacturing and selling without third-party distribution, differentiates it from the multinational incumbents.

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Daysoft operates in the UK contact lens market, a subset of the broader optical goods sector. The UK contact lens market is estimated at approximately £500m to £600m annually, with daily disposables the fastest-growing segment at around 3 to 5% annual growth (estimate). Growth is driven by increasing adoption of daily disposables over monthly or two-weekly lenses on health and convenience grounds, an ageing but active population, and rising screen time accelerating myopia prevalence among younger cohorts.

The market is moderately consolidated at the top. Four global multinationals, Alcon, Bausch & Lomb, CooperVision and Johnson & Johnson Vision, dominate manufacturing, while retail distribution runs through optician chains (Specsavers, Boots Opticians) and online discounters (Vision Direct, Lenstore). There has been limited roll-up activity, but the large players are acquisitive for technology and DTC capabilities when opportunities arise.

Over the next three to five years, subscription economics and DTC models are likely to gain share from bricks-and-mortar optical retail, though regulatory burden around medical devices and margin pressure from the multinationals remain structural risks. For a seller, this is a favourable window: strategic acquirers want DTC capability and UK manufacturing capacity, while subscription revenue commands premium multiples from PE buyers.

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• CooperVision (UK operations) – global daily disposable manufacturer, much larger scale, distributes through opticians
• Johnson & Johnson Vision (Acuvue) – major brand Daysoft explicitly positions against, substantially larger
• Vision Direct (part of EssilorLuxottica) – online retailer of third-party lenses, similar DTC channel but not a manufacturer
• Lenstore – UK online contact lens retailer, comparable e-commerce model but reseller only
• Waldo (now ceased UK operations) – was a DTC daily lens subscription brand, similar business model at smaller scale

Note: CooperVision and J&J are significantly larger; Vision Direct and Lenstore are comparable in channel but not vertically integrated. List inferred from market knowledge.

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Reconstructed profit and loss, GBP, figures marked (est.) are derived

• EBITDA
• Additional gross profit
• Cost of sales to total revenue

£12.5m

£1.4m

£13.2m

£2.1m

FY2024 (est.)

GP £9.4m · EBITDA £1.4m

175 employees

FY2025 (est.)

GP £10.3m · EBITDA £2.1m

173 employees

Basis: Revenue, gross profit and headcount taken from filed group accounts (audited by BDO LLP). EBITDA estimated as operating profit plus depreciation and amortisation: FY2025 £1.24m + £0.90m = £2.14m; FY2024 £0.45m + £0.95m = £1.40m. Full group accounts format.

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Buyer considerations: The business holds £2.3m of cash and no external bank debt, with the spike in short-term creditors at FY2025 largely attributable to a £2.5m directors' loan received at 2% fixed rate; this would likely be treated as debt-like on completion and either repaid or deducted from equity value. The February 2025 share buyback of £4.5m to Scottish Equity Partners explains the drop in net assets year on year. Working capital appears modest relative to revenue, consistent with a DTC subscription model with short cash conversion. No significant property is held in the company, and the deferred tax liability of £0.47m is small in context.

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Most recent filed accounts: FY2025, made up to 31 December 2025, filed 31 July 2026. This is approximately eight months old as of today (August 2026), so the FY2025 figures are current enough to value without rolling forward.

EBITDA basis: £2.14m for FY2025, derived from operating profit of £1.24m plus depreciation and amortisation of £0.90m.

Sector multiples: Vertically integrated medical device manufacturers with subscription DTC revenue typically trade at 8x to 12x EBITDA in the UK SME market. A relevant precedent is the 2021 acquisition of Hubble Contacts (US DTC daily lens subscription) by Hoya Ciba at an undisclosed price, though reports suggested a double-digit EBITDA multiple given the recurring revenue base. In the UK, optical retail and manufacturing M&A is less frequent at this scale, but CooperVision's serial tuck-in strategy indicates appetite. No directly comparable UK transaction with disclosed terms is available.

On our assumption of 3 to 8% business growth, 15 to 25% EBITDA margin and approximately 60% recurring revenue quality, the profile supports the upper half of the range for a manufacturing SME.

Indicative enterprise value: £2.14m × 8.0x to 11.0x = £17.1m to £23.5m.

Equity value would require deducting the £2.5m directors' loan (if outstanding) and adding the c.£2.3m surplus cash, which roughly net out, leaving equity value close to EV.

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These bars are calibrated for UK SMEs and do not apply to midcap or larger businesses, where the thresholds are very different.

The metric that most limits the multiple today is the 16.3% EBITDA margin, which sits just below the "Good" threshold despite an exceptional gross margin, suggesting administrative cost structure or reinvestment in growth is compressing profitability.

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The single highest-return action is formalising the handover from Dr Hamilton to Alan Ralph, because the founder's age and central role in the brand story create significant key-person risk that will constrain bids until visibly addressed.

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The trade sale route is the strongest fit. The global contact lens multinationals are actively seeking DTC subscription capability and low-cost manufacturing in developed markets. Daysoft is the only UK manufacturer selling direct at scale, making it a scarce asset. Pursuing a trade process would likely attract competitive tension between at least two of the big four, supporting the upper end of the multiple range. For the owner, this route typically means a clean exit within twelve months, though the brand may be absorbed or repositioned post-sale.

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At your size expect a structured, competitive auction run by a larger corporate finance house, with full workstream due diligence and international buyers likely on the list. Allow around nine to fifteen months from starting properly to money in the bank.

At this size, process discipline is the value driver. A well run timetable with several credible bidders reaching binding offers on the same day is what produces a premium.