No pain – just gain; lawyers’ £18.5m of dental deals

The gold is not just in the fillings – sales of dental practices worth £18.5m have been handled by Harrison Clark Rickerbys’ health and social care team in the last two months.

The team, with dental specialist Clare Emery in the lead on the deals, has advised on sales across the country, from Liverpool to Hertfordshire and from the south coast to Sheffield.

Clare said: “The sector is very busy at the moment – corporates are buying up sole practitioners, tying them in for a few years to maintain the goodwill and then everyone moves on. Dentists who have built up their practices over many years are taking the opportunities available to them.

“Of course, everyone needs dentists, and it’s much harder now to get onto an NHS dentist’s list than it used to be, so demand is buoyant.”

One of the major factors in the team’s success is their ability to draw on other specialists within the firm to advise on specific issues for each client – employment considerations, property or planning problems and banking or finance issues.

Clare said: “We work hard to deliver what our clients need, and the fact that we can give them an all-round service is a real advantage. Our experience in the sector also helps – we can flag up issues which might not have occurred to them.”

Led by Charlotte Thornton-Smith, the team recently reached the final of the LaingBuisson awards as private healthcare advisor, and won an M and A award earlier in the year.