Taylor Pope, a leading dentist in the region, and his wife Roz have just completed the purchase of their fourth practice, Newton Dental in Newton le Willows, and have a fifth acquisition in the pipeline.
The couple, who are based on the Wirral, have spent around £2.5m in acquiring the practices and have ambitions to own more than ten high quality dental surgeries over the next few years.
The corporate team, led by partner Tom Hall, at Manchester law firm Pannone Corporate, has worked with the couple since 2012, and advised on all of the acquisitions. The team is assisting the couple with their buy and build strategy.
Tom said: “It is a pleasure to assist Taylor and his wife Roz with their ambitious acquisition strategy. Taylor is an eminent dentist and the pair are focused on creating dental practices that offer patients the best possible treatments and care. We look forward to advising on further acquisitions in the future.”
Taylor Pope qualified with a degree in Human Anatomy from the University of Leeds in 1996, and proceeded to study Dentistry at the University of Liverpool, qualifying in 2002.
The pair bought their first practice, Woodchurch Dental Practice in 2012, followed by Smiles by Design in Chester in 2014, and recently completed the acquisition of Allen House Dental Practice in Crewe as well as Newton Dental.
The practices have on average three associates and offer a mix of NHS and private dentistry. There are around 15,000 patients across the four sites.
Roz says that because of Taylor’s reputation they are often approached by owners who are looking to sell but don’t want their practices to get swallowed up by large national chains.
She says: “Often these people have worked hard to build up their practices which have become part of the local community. They want to know that their dental surgeries are in safe hands and will have the same commitment to their patients.
“We buy practices that are well established in the community, with around two or three associates, and have potential to expand.
“The practices are modernised and new treatments are introduced. We have a team of specialists including implantologists, oral surgeons, endodontists and consultant anaesthetists for IV sedations.
“However, we don’t rebrand the practices as we believe it is important that each keeps its own identity.”
While the couple, who also have seven children aged nine and under, are keen to expand, Roz says for the moment there are only looking at acquisitions in the region.
She says: “We believe it is important to be hands-on and like to be able to visit the practices regularly and keep in close contact with staff.
“Our aim is to create a group of top quality, individual dental practices, offering patients access to all forms of treatments carried out by the leading experts in their field.”
Roz added: “We have worked with the team at Pannone Corporate on all of our acquisitions and Tom and his colleagues are now an essential component of our acquisition strategy.
“They offer commercial, pragmatic and clear advice at every stage of the process and will continue to be the firm of choice as we continue to expand our dental practice business.”
In addition to dental treatments, all of the practices offer a range of non-surgical facial treatments such as botox, fillers, teeth whitening and chemical peels, through the couple’s other business, Advanced Facial Aesthetics, which they set up in 2009.
Taylor Pope trained with the famous Bob Khanna at the Royal College of Surgeons, London.
The Pannone Corporate team included Katie Ward (Corporate), Richard James (Real Estate), Amy Seddon (Real Estate) and Richard Cowan (Banking & Finance).