Everyone needs a dentist, and most of us have high expectations. We want our treatment to be efficient, caring and empathetic, and to have it delivered locally by a practitioner we know and trust.

Clyde Munro is a rapidly expanding dental group that has succeeded by delivering in all these areas. In just over five years it has grown into the largest dental group in Scotland with 47 practices, more than 200 dentists and over 400,000 patients.

The company is now consolidating its position with a £10 million funding package from Investec. This will support its expansion plans, which include passing the 50-practice milestone in the coming weeks.

Clyde Munro’s founder, Jim Hall, first launched the business in 2015 and has the ambition of building the brand to the point where it can be called Scotland’s Family Dentist in both NHS and private practice. He explains how it all started, what motivates him and how he sees the future.

Q. Clyde Munro has come a long way in a short time. How did it begin?

Jim Hall (JH): My own background is in business rather than dentistry - I was responsible for Polaroid’s operation in Dumbarton, and actually did a management buy-out of part of the company. I then got involved with start up businesses and partnered with a friend who was the Chief Dental Officer for England. We saw the opportunity to set up a dental group in Scotland and decided to press ahead with it.

Q. What did you feel you could offer that was different?

JH: We wanted to look at what benefits we could bring to Scotland’s communities as a group while at the same time maintaining what people feel is special about having a local dentist. Our whole focus was to provide local practices, but with the kind of support that can only come from a bigger group.

Dental surgeries are different depending on which town you are in. You have to recognise that and empower people to do what is right for them and their communities. We started by buying Clyde, which was a small Scottish group, and took things forward from there.

Q: How have you managed to grow the business so quickly?

JH: Our ethos appealed to a lot of dentists who were looking to sell their businesses. The Scottish system is very different from the rest of the UK and we understand that. Our whole team is based north of the border. Also, we don’t wipe out the legacy of a practice built up over generations - instead we build on it. We have very strong values and put our patients and teams first. These things have really struck a chord with people looking to sell. They know we are not just going to change things for the sake of it.

Q: What do you offer that other dental practices don’t?

JH: Our dental practices have the benefits of being part of a large organisation. For example, local practices can call on experts from the group to support them - that could be in marketing, or communications, or digital technology. Or it might be support in areas such as training and development. But we don’t try and tell each practice what it needs to do or to get them all to do the same thing. We want them to retain their individuality. Patients coming in don’t need to wonder what has happened to the practice they knew and loved. That’s really important in healthcare.

Q: How did the deal with Investec come about?

JH: Typically, in order to build a business like ours, you try and get equity support from the beginning. We did that with Synova and it has been a great partner. We then wanted to grow the company and were introduced to Investec through advisors. Their people were particularly interested in the sector and they have really supported us.  They intimately understand our business.

Q: The latest £10 million commitment by Investec takes the total it has invested to £30 million. What do you intend to do with the latest tranche?

JH: We are still growing rapidly - we’re adding two or three practices every month - and this money will allow us to buy more.  Vendors may want to sell for a number of reasons. They might be coming to retirement, or they may want a different work life balance, or they might just want to focus on dentistry without the extra stress of managing a practice.

Q: How did Covid affect you?

JH: It was hard for us, as it was for a lot of businesses. We had to close our practices but at the same time provide a service to patients, using new systems we had put in place to help triage them to emergency centres. We worked very closely with the NHS and actually handed over our large practice in Fort William to it which became the local emergency facility. When we were able to welcome patients back, we used a new portal we had invested in allowing them to check in online, so helping to protect them and our staff. We were also determined to support our staff right through the pandemic by paying them fully and looking after our hygienists who are self-employed.

Q: Why does Clyde Munro regard itself as a distinctively Scottish company?

JH: We only focus on the Scottish market - we don’t buy practices anywhere else. And we don’t cherry pick the busy Central Belt ones. We have them in places like Glencoe, Peterhead and Galashiels as well as three in Orkney. The first thing we did when we invested there was to invest in a 3D scanner. Before we did that, patients had to travel to Inverness for a scan, and that’s a big journey. We also now have the kit to do a crown in a day rather than in multiple visits. That makes things a lot easier for people.

Q: Where do you plan to take the business in future?

JH: We’ll continue to grow, as long as we can continue to maintain the values that we have. I’m paranoid that we don’t turn into a corporate and find ourselves with stifled decision making, or that we do things in local practices that don’t work. I’m constantly watching for these things. But if you look at pharmacists or opticians, you will find these days that the vast majority of them are part of groups. But that’s still only the case for about 20 per cent of dentists, meaning there is plenty of scope to grow further. So I’m excited about what the future holds.

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£10million injection for thriving dental group

AN EXPANDING dental group has secured a £10m funding package from Investec that will help it consolidate its place as the dominant firm of its type in Scotland.

It takes the total committed by Investec to £30m, which along with private-equity firm Synova has ensured the group has been able to deliver on founder Jim Hall’s bold ambition to create “Scotland’s family dentist”.

Recent weeks have seen Clyde Munro acquire further practices, taking its total to 51, covering all of Scotland’s cities as well as locations from Orkney to the Borders. A further six practices are on heads of terms, with deals close to completion.

Investec’s Stephen White commented: “Clyde Munro is a business with a clear vision. We’re proud to partner with them, giving long-term financial backing to an accomplished team.

“In response, Scottish dentists are confident enough to place their legacy in the hands of the Clyde Munro team, which is in turn investing in those practices to improve outcomes for patients, while protecting the charm and identity of individual practices.

“We’re delighted to be committing further funding towards Clyde Munro’s ambition of becoming Scotland’s local dentist.”

Jim Hall, who launched Clyde Munro in 2015, said: “We’re Scottish-based, have a distinctly Scottish team and we are not looking outside of Scotland. That sets us apart from our rivals and those that have tried to reach scale before us.

“Investec bought into our vision early doors. We were delighted when they first committed to us, but it is even more pleasing that they continue to see where we are going - and the huge potential of our business.”

The Glasgow-based firm has renewed its call for principal dentists looking either for an exit or for a chance to ease the admin burden of running a business to instead focus on their clinical work, to get in touch. Investec offers international financial solutions to its private, institutional and corporate clients.

Since being founded in 2015 Clyde Munro has enjoyed rapid growth. The group is the brainchild of Jim Hall, who founded it in 2015 with the acquisition of seven practices and the backing of private equity firm Synova and Investec Bank.

Since launch, it has enjoyed rapid growth through acquisition and has plans to continue expanding. It now comprises 51 practices across Scotland, with more than 200 dentists, 400 staff and 400,000 patients.

The group’s ambition is to become Scotland’s “local dentist”, operating an expanding network of family dentists across Scotland, with each devoted to providing the best dental care, while reflecting the needs and Everyone needs a dentist, and most of us have high expectations. character of its community