Knight Optical Reviews

2.9

60% would recommend to a friend

(17 total reviews)

Colin Overton

38% approve of CEO

46% positive business outlook

Knight Optical has an employee rating of 2.9 out of 5 stars, based on 17 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The Knight Optical employee rating is 20% below average for employers within the Aerospace and defence industry (3.6 stars).

Reviews by job title

17 reviews
1.0
28 Aug 2016

Fraudulent and unethical

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Located in the countryside Good range of meteorology equipment Expanding company Any job you get afterwards will be an improvement

Cons

We were told to lie to customers on a daily basis about how our optics were made in house - almost everything was sourced from suppliers in China and re-branded with at least a 50% mark up. Only simple polishing and meteorology was done in house, although on some occasions the meteorology data was manipulated so that it passed. Where a drawing was supplied for custom optics, we were told to redact the customer information, paste in a Knight Optical logo and send it out to Chinese suppliers. This was even done for classified drawings from major UK defense companies where it would explicitly state on the drawing "Do not share externally". This breached copyright material and jeopardised national security - if you sent a drawing to Knight Optical, it will have been redacted and sent to at least 5 Chinese suppliers to quote.

avatar
Knight Optical Response
9y
Clearly either a competitor or from a distant employee. Almost all this information is incorrect and is defamatory and libellous. I am the General Manager and run the UK operation. All of our sales staff have been with the Company a substantial time, absolutely no one has ever been threatened with the sack. In fact, I cannot remember the last person to be fired it is so distant. (There was a sales employee who failed to turn up to work whom I would have fired had he ever returned!). No one in management in the UK has ever conducted themselves with anything other than dignity and decorum. It is complete and utter nonsense and all the staff are bemused and hurt at this allegation. On the more serious allegation that we abuse non disclosure agreements, that is categorically and vehemently denied. It is simply untrue and I challenge the brave anonymous poster to speak to me directly. We manufacture around 25% of our products. We used to manufacture 75%+ and we do not lie to customers, ever. Our profit margins are a matter of public record. We have been a reliable, quality company for a quarter of a century. The average profit margins are a quarter of the false claim. Our partner suppliers are throughout the globe. Our largest suppliers are in the US, Germany and Spain. We occasionally use China, but we have almost as many customers in China as we do suppliers. Don't just take my word for it, we are the most open and compliant Company I have ever been involved with. We put our policies and levels of confidentiality on line at www.knightoptical.info The tiny element of truth in the diatribe is that of course we remove our customer's details when dealing with suppliers. We would be in breach of every iota of business etiquette and many agreements if we did otherwise. The comment about training is absurd. All our advisers are highly qualified and our internal training is second to none. Finally, our pay is quite generous - not quite in the Google realms, but we generally have 10 applications for every job, and it is very rare that someone leaves. I'm not posting confidential salary information, but just as the other comments were - it is completely untrue.
1.0
24 Feb 2016

No existing management structure-No training

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

No formal education needed, a 14 years old could be hired. I'm not even sure if that's a pro.

Cons

No formal training offered, low pay, immature behaviour in work environment, a complete scam.

avatar
Knight Optical Response
9y
Almost certainly the same splenetic author as the follow up in August. I invite you to formally put your concerns in writing to me, so that I can take the appropriate action against you. What is disappointing is that a few untruths from a bitter failed ex employee can damage the morale of the hard working and dedicated team we are blessed to have working for us. They deserve better.
1.0
10 Oct 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good colleagues,good area to commute and safe car park.

Cons

The level of training is basic,people are treated as assets,one mistake and they forget about all the good things you done .

Viewing 1 - 3 of 17 Reviews

Glassdoor has 17 Knight Optical reviews submitted anonymously by Knight Optical employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Knight Optical is right for you.