Scots dental group Clyde Munro sparkles after achieving key milestones

Rapidly expanding dental group Clyde Munro has revealed how it has reached the milestone of more than 500,000 patients under its care and will soon secure its 70th practice – with many more expected to follow.

The firm, which was founded by Jim Hall in 2015 with the acquisition of seven practices, brands itself as the largest exclusively Scottish dental group and says about one in 11 Scots are patients within its network.

The latest deal continues its strong appetite for acquisitions, snapping up several dental practices across Scotland since the start of the year alone, taking the group to 69 such sites and more than 200 dentists and 500 staff. That comes after it last year said it had become the first group to exceed 50 practices across Scotland.

Early into 2022 the Glasgow-based business snapped up practices in Bathgate, Balerno and Maybole, and one in Ayr, while in the last quarter it has inked deals in Dunfermline, Oban, Arbroath, Paisley, Thurso, Inverness, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The firm’s chief development officer Kirsty Dace said: “It has been a very busy first half of 2022, with an average of three practices joining the group in each month. It’s a dynamic we hope will continue into the second half of the year and we are on the verge of concluding a number of further acquisitions.

“Our stated ambition is to become Scotland’s ‘local dentist’ and we will continue to look for opportunities where well-established dental practice owners are looking for a timely exit, or may want to ease the administrative requirements of running a demanding business.

“We are committed to delivering outstanding standards in patient care in Scotland, and with more than one third of our dental practices located outside of Scotland’s main cities, that commitment extends equally to rural communities as it does to large centres of population.”

Kirsty Dace said Clyde Munro has seen an average of three practices joining the group each month this year, while the firm is locking down more such deals. Picture: David Ho.

It was recently revealed that, in a project being undertaken by Clyde Munro in tandem with Dentsply Sirona, which specialises in hi-tech dental products, more than £1 million will be invested in a “state-of-the-art” training and treatment facility to boost Scotland’s dental sector.

Backing

That came after the news in February that banking and wealth-management specialist Investec had provided a £25 million war chest to support Clyde Munro’s ambitious growth strategy.

Mr Hall at the time said: “Investec has bought into our vision from the outset. This new cash injection affirms that ourselves, our shareholders and our bank have a huge commitment to, and belief in, the Scottish dental sector.

“It also gives us the firepower required to continue our amazing growth and deliver further on our clearly-stated ambition of becoming Scotland’s local dentist.”

The dentistry group also points out that it has launched various initiatives to become “Scotland’s environmentally friendly dentist”, aiming to be net zero by 2030. It said such relevant steps include switching all practices to a renewable energy provider and its fleet of vehicles to electric cars, as well as removing plastic cups and enrolling in schemes to recycle dental waste.