Oticon hearing aids

Anthony Fuller, CBE, aged 66, is best known for his career at the Fullers’ family owned brewery in West London. He started work there as a management trainee at the age of 23, working his way up the business, to become Chairman and then Managing Director in 1978. He was the sixth generation of his family to work at the brewery since it began in 1829. Today, Mr Fuller has retired but still has the role of non-executive Chairman and commutes to London for weekly meetings from his home in Bradford-On-Avon, where he has lived for nearly 30 years.

Mr Fuller’s success has been achieved despite a hearing loss, which started 20 years ago and has progressively worsened. He first noticed he was struggling when he found it hard to hear in a noisy room or when there was background noise. Another problem was at board meetings, where it became difficult to hear people at the far end of the table. It became increasingly important for Mr Fuller to improve his hearing when he was made Chairman of the National Brewers’ Association, The Brewers’ Society, which involved representing the whole brewing industry in the Mergers Commission Enquiry, work for which he received a CBE.

After trying many hearing devices over the years, it was in 2006 that Mr Fuller experienced the newly available Oticon Delta. He immediately appreciated its advanced technology, which provides improved sound clarity and definition, coupled with its discreet appearance. Mr Fuller’s ‘Deltas’ were fitted by a prominent audiologist, Elizabeth Duffy, at Capital Audiology, Harley Street, London.

Mr Fuller has found that his ‘Deltas’ have benefited both his work and home life, “ My hearing is much clearer and I can hear different pitch levels now. For instance, I can actually hear the telephone ring – something other devices didn’t help with! I can also confidently chair meetings, knowing that I can hear everything – even the person at the far end of the room.” Mr Fuller’s family members, especially his wife, have noticed the improvement, as he can hear what she is saying when her back is turned!

Mr Fuller explains that with other devices, he often needed to turn them off because of their feedback, which doesn’t happen with his Deltas. He wears them switched on all day and forgets they are there, as they are so comfortable and light. Unlike a traditional hearing aid, the triangular device fits discreetly behind his ear, so many people don’t even realise he is wearing it.

Bobby Tambling is a retired footballer, with a distinguished professional career, most notably playing for Chelsea and Crystal Palace in the 1960s and 1970s. He still holds the club record for the former, having scored 202 goals in 370 games. He also won a total of three caps for England, scoring a goal in the European Championship qualifier against France.

He has a suite named after him at Chelsea’s ground at Stamford Bridge, in honour of his status, and was recently named in the club’s greatest ever XI, selected to mark Chelsea’s centenary.

Towards the end of his playing career Bobby moved to Ireland, where he was player-manager for Cork Celtic, before moving to Cork City as manager. Now in his mid-sixties, Bobby continues to live in Ireland.

Around ten years ago he began to notice a gradual loss in hearing, but like many people would not admit the problem to himself, and instead tried to avoid conversations in situations where there was a lot of background noise.

Within a year things had reached the stage where he wasn’t even aware that people were talking to him. However, he was put off the idea of having a hearing aid fitted by stories from friends, who had tried them unsuccessfully. But finally his partner persuaded him that action really needed to be taken.

‘It was very embarrassing, really’, remembers Bobby: ‘People thought I was being really snotty and ignoring them, but that’s not my personality at all. It was a particular problem with women, because of their higher pitched voices, who probably thought I was being a stereotypically sexist ex-sportsman ’

With some trepidation, he visited a prominent local audiologist, Charles Lewis, at Hearing Care in Cork, Southern Ireland. Here he was fitted with what was claimed to be the state-of-the art device of its time, which could even be controlled from a wrist watch. It was certainly very successful in improving Bobby’s hearing levels, to the degree that he could hear what people were saying to him. The problem was that the device indiscriminately magnified all ambient sounds, so that if he was in a situation with a high level of background noise, such as his local pub, he still couldn’t hear what people were saying to him. So he found himself wearing the new wonder device less and less.

A chance encounter in the street with his audiologist – when he wasn’t wearing the device – forced him to admit the problem, and together they resolved to try something else.

This resulted in Bobby being fitted with the Oticon Delta. The results have been a lot more satisfactory.

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