Mr Peel and Mr Gudgin opened a Dispensing Optician practice at the original location in Crescent House, Bury St. Edmunds in 1936. The practice was run by Mr Gudgin until the 1960s, with Mr Peel remaining a silent partner until the 1970s. During which time a further practice opened in The Arcade, Stowmarket, in the 1950s.

They employed Dispensing Optician Stan Golding, who undertook the hospital work, and was an ophthalmic artist, recording the appearance of eyes in the days before retinal photography.

Another Dispensing Optician Tom Hall managed the practices from the mid 1960s, when Mr Gudgin retired. He introduced eye examinations to the practices, performed by Dr Monkton, Dr Corey and Dr Doran, and also by Dr Gardiner, a well-known innovator in the field of children’s eye testing.

It was in the early 1960s that David Hawkins first worked at Peel and Gudgin before leaving to work in Ipswich. Hawkins returned, and alongside Hall , bought the business from Mr Peel in the 1970s, moving premises in Bury St. Edmunds to Abbey House.

Hall left the partnership in 1987 and David and Sandy Hawkins ran the business as partners until being joined by Chris Wilbraham in 1992, who then became a partner in 1994. In 1996 the practice in Stowmarket, which by then was above Palmers Bakery on Station Road, moved to its current location at 11 Station Road West.

In January 2000 Sandy Hawkins retired and David Hawkins followed in 2008, leaving Chris Wilbraham as the sole owner of Peel and Gudgin Opticians.

More recently, in August 2024, Ghislaine Dunn was appointed director of Peel and Gudgin Opticians. Throughout four generations of change the practice has focused on bespoke eyecare services to the local community and will continue to do so.