Buying 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 2023
• An update of the current dental market

Ryan Barnett, Policy and Research Analyst, BDA

09:15    A guide to preparing to buy a dental practice

• Understand who is who in the process
• Understand the different types of practice and purchases
• Obtain a checklist for the process.

Victoria Michell, Head of NHS and Business Team, BDA

10:00    The financials of buying a practice

Speaker to be announced

11:00    Morning refreshments and exhibition

11:15    Which type of practice is right for you – NHS, mixed or private

• Discuss the pros and cons of each type of practice.

Victoria Michell, Head of NHS and Business Team, BDA

11:35    Legal documents and the legal process of buying a practice

• Understand the stages and purpose of the transaction
• Ensure completion and post completion formalities are followed.

Victoria Michell, Head of NHS and Business Team, BDA

12:25    Lunch and exhibition

13:15    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
• Explain the different forms required
• Provide some examples of the interview questions and possible answers
• CQC inspections – what you need to know
• Compliance – what you need to know.

Richard Harris, Head of Compliance, BDA

13:45    Health and safety issues in general practice

• Health and safety – what you need to know.

Sarah Williams, Health and safety compliance advisor, BDA

14:15    Providing NHS services in your practice

• Understand how to integrate NHS care into a practice
• Understand how to balance NHS and private work

Ela Rexhaj, Practice Management Consultant NHS and Business Team, BDA

15:15    Afternoon refreshments and exhibition  

15:30    The legalities relating to staff and associates when you buy a practice

• Understand implications of the law relating to taking over employees
• Learn strategies for taking over employees
• Learn strategies for taking over self-employed members of the dental team.

James Goldman, Associate Director of Advisory Services, BDA

16:15    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

16:30    Afternoon Q&A

17:00    Close

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.

Phil 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.

Ela is a Law LLB graduate and an LPC MSc Law, Business and Management postgraduate. She has developed an in-depth understanding of various areas of law, including public law, commercial, and contract law. As such, she has a good understanding of the commercial realities of running a small business in a regulated industry like dentistry.

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.

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.