Setting up a dental practice

08:30 Registration, refreshments and exhibition

09:00 Welcome

09:05 Industry update and state of the market

• Background to the state of the UK economy in 2024
• An update of the current dental market

Ryan Barnett, Policy and Research Analyst, BDA

09:15 A guide to preparing to set up a dental practice

• Finding the right premises – what to consider
• Which type of practice is right for you – NHS, mixed or private?
• Understand the stages and purpose of the purchase
• Ensure completion and post completion formalities are followed.
• Understanding what you need in place for opening day

Victoria Michell, Head of NHS and Business Team, BDA

10:00 Morning refreshments and exhibition

10:15 Business planning & accessing finance

• What moneylenders want to know and what they will want to see.
• The fundamental commercial considerations:
• Understanding the opportunity, competition and local demographic.
• Cashflow: considerations of what to invest in and when.
• Project management and planning: the key milestones.
• Recruitment: getting the right people on board.
• KPIs and ensuring you’re hitting the all-important targets underpinning your plan.

Andy McDougall and Anne-Marie Houston, Spot-on Business Planning

11:45 A guide to designing your practice

• Converting a non-dental building into a practice
• Discussing what equipment you need and how to lay it out

Dan Payne, Equipment Sales Specialist, Henry Schein Dental

12:15 Lunch and exhibition

12:15 Lunch and exhibition

13:00 The CQC – a necessary evil?

• Understand how to register your legal entity ie as a sole trader, a partnership; or a Ltd Co
• Explore the possible need for a registered manager
• Provide some examples of the interview questions and possible answers
• CQC inspections and Compliance – what you need to know

Richard Harris, Head of Compliance, BDA

13:30 Health and safety issues in general practice

• Health and safety – what you need to know.

Sarah Williams, Health and safety compliance advisor, BDA

14:00 The legalities relating to staff and associates when you set up a practice

• Understand recruitment requirements, contract requirements, pay scales, on-going staffing requirements, associates and associate contracts and pay

James Goldman, Associate Director of Advisory Services, BDA

14:45 Staff pensions - what you should know

• Understanding automatic enrolment for practice employees
• Introducing your pension obligations for an NHS contract holder.

Phil McEvoy, Head of Pensions, BDA

15:00 Afternoon refreshments and exhibition

15:15 Hear first and from a dentist who set up his own practice

Simon Godley, Practice owner and Dentist

15:45 Afternoon Q&A

16:15 Close

Ryan works on policy, research and campaigns for the team. Has a background in economics, having qualified with a Distinction level MA in Political Economy from City, University of London. Since starting at the BDA he has been so far focussed on labour market and NHS budgeting analysis, leading our work on dental inflation and expenses. Prior to the BDA, Ryan worked in two other trade bodies representing small businesses and briefly as a civil servant at the London Assembly.

After graduating from King’s College Hospital Dental School in 1984, Simon worked at King’s College Hospital where he gained experience in oral surgery, restorative and children’s dentistry. He then entered general dental practice in North West London where he remained until 2002, when he set up 42 The Dental Practice. He continues to work here as a general dentist alongside his specialist colleagues.

Simon is also, an actor, writer, filmmaker and Curator of the art gallery at 24.

James qualified as a barrister in 1994 and has worked as an in-house lawyer, in the retail, recruitment and public sectors. He has been at the BDA advising dentists since 2007. He has provided advice on a range of employment and commercial issues, has appeared in a number of tribunal cases, including on employment status of associates, and has lectured on a range of topics.

Richard heads up the team which advises members on CQC-related issues for England and is also involved in other regulatory set-ups in the rest of the UK, together with practice health and safety matters.

Now in his second stint at the BDA, Richard has nearly 25 years' experience of advising dentists on a variety of practice-based issues and has been involved with the developing CQC situation since 2010.

Anne-Marie is a key member of the Spot On team. Her breadth of skill, knowledge and experience have been amassed over a career spanning corporate IT training and senior business management. Originally introduced to Spot On as a client whilst managing her husband's dental practice, Anne-Marie joined the team over five years ago as an analyst. Today, working alongside Andy, she is instrumental in driving client profitability and delivering the exceptional service which Spot On clients enjoy. 

Andy is the dental industry's go-to speaker for leadership and business planning. He is the authority of choice for dental practice owners keen to double their net profit every three years. Applying over 35 years of corporate expertise in strategic planning, Andy highlights the financial, operational and people strengths and weaknesses in your business and determines how to build a better future. Andy's presentations are hugely popular: he is an engaging and knowledgeable speaker. Delegates leave feeling enriched by what they have learned and motivated to join SOBP for more. 

Phil McEvoy is the Head of the BDA's Pensions Team. He leads the policy work of the BDA in relation to pensions and provides expert advice to BDA members in all sectors of dentistry.

Victoria is an advisor in the NHS, Business and General Practice advice team. She qualified as a solicitor in 2010 having trained in the City of London. She worked for the financial regulator before moving to the BDA and undertook a secondment representing clients buying and selling dental practices.

Sarah is a Health and Safety Compliance Advisor at the BDA. Originally from a dental nursing background, Sarah has spent 20 years in dental practice in practice/clinical management roles which have seen her working on many compliance related matters. Sarah has also carried out the role of a CQC registered manager.