Mydentist looks to India for new recruits as loss widens

Mydentist has sunk further into the red as it looks to recruit more new hires from overseas after the UK Government relaxed the rules.

The business, which is one of the largest dental providers in the UK, has said hiring has been constrained by the limited number of dental school places in this country as well as the slots available for overseas hires to sit the Overseas Registration Exam (ORE).

However, following a change to the rules last year, Mydentist said it’s now able to hire more dentists from overseas.

The Greater Manchester-headquartered business recently agreed a partnership with a dental school in India “as a first step to maximising the opportunity”.

Mydentist turns to overseas recruits

On recruitment, the business said: “Mydentist has continued to expand its recruitment capabilities in order to increase the number of clinician hours available to patients, although the recruitment market has remained challenging.

“Mydentist continues to recruit clinicians from both UK and overseas sources, however the supply of clinicians from within the UK is constrained by the limited number of places available across UK dental schools.

“The supply of overseas clinicians has been constrained but the number of places available to sit the Overseas Registration Exam (ORE).

“The changes of the Section 60 legislation enacted by the government in early 2023 are expected to substantially reduce the barriers to recruiting clinicians from overseas, but opening up additional routes fro overseas clinicians to sit the ORE.”

The move comes as newly-filed accounts with Companies House revealed that Mydentist posted a pre-tax loss of £57m in the 12 months to 31 March, 2024, after having also lost £35.6m in the prior year.

However, the results also show that its revenue increased in the 12 months from £534.6m to £573.8m.

Mydentist said the reduction in its dental practices from 545 to 534 was as a result of its “growth strategy, which involves the merger, relocation or expansion of smaller practices with limited growth opportunities”.

The results come after Mydentist, which is backed by Palamon Capital Partners, sold DD Group Holdings to an affiliate of Sun European Partners in June 2022.

Mydentist said the fall in its operating profit from £16m to £6.1m was mainly because of an £11.1m expenditure in relation to “systems transformation” and a one-off charge of £7.7m to exit a fixed price utilities contract.

It added that its results in the prior financial were boosted by a profit of £65.8m from discontinued operations of which £64.3m arose as a gain from the disposal of the DD division.

Group ‘well positioned’ for the future

A statement signed off by the board said: “Whilst the market for clinical recruitment within the UK continues to be challenging, the directors are encouraged by continued strong patient demand for both the group’s NHS and private dentists services as well as the performance of the recently merged, relocated and expanded practices under the organic growth programme, which have seen strong demand from both patients and clinicians.

“The directors also believe that the group remains well positioned to benefit from the opportunity created by the legislative changes to Section 60 that came into effect in 2023.

“These regulatory changes will substantially reduce the barriers to recruiting clinicians from overseas and are expected to have a beneficial impact from the end of FY2025 onwards.

“The group has recently agreed a partnership with a leading dental school in India as a first step to maximising the opportunity.”

During the year the average number of people employed by Mydentist fell from 6,414 to 6,289.