Clyde Munro Dental Group braces for further expansion after acquiring Bathgate practice

A West Lothian dental and aesthetics practice has become the latest to be snapped up by the rapidly expanding Clyde Munro Dental Group.

Bathgate Dental Spa, which has around 8,500 patients, becomes the 52nd dental practice to joining Clyde Munro, which says it is Scotland’s largest dental group, and marking the latter’s first move into West Lothian.

The family practice in Bathgate was founded in 1967, acquired by Iain Henderson in 1990, and says it was one of the first among peers in Scotland to offer accredited facial aesthetics treatments, which started in 2004.

Stephanie Watt of Clyde Munro with Bathgate Dental Spa's Iain Henderson. Picture: Ian Georgeson.

The Midstreet, predominantly NHS practice now has a team of 15, including five associate dentists who will all remain in place, while the sale will allow Mr Henderson to fully retire from general practice and to focus on his work for NHS Education.

He said: “The practice has been part of my family for more than 30 years, to the extent that for many years we lived above it. In years gone by my wife, Loraine, and our two children would regularly visit patients in the waiting room.

“It was vital to me that we get this next stage right, for our patients and for the wider community. I’ve been aware of positive reputation that Clyde Munro has for preserving the values and legacy of the practices it acquires for a while now.

“Since the start of the pandemic I’ve all but stepped back from patient care. That makes the decision to retire from general practice so much easier, because there should be no sudden shocks. Our patients will see no dramatic changes.”

Clyde Munro says that earlier this year it became the first group to exceed 50 practices across Scotland. It was founded by Jim Hall in 2015 with the acquisition of seven practices, and now has spans Scotland from Orkney and the Highlands to the Scottish Borders, with more than 400,000 patients and 400 staff. A further ten practices are set to soon join the group, which is backed by Investec and Synova.

Kirsty Dace, chief development officer with Clyde Munro, is responsible for the acquisitions that drive the group’s growth. She deemed Bathgate Dental Spa “a perfect example of a practice rooted in the community, providing NHS treatments to thousands of local families”.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.