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MediEstates - Success Stories - an Interview with Darren McAuley
Success Stories - an Interview with Darren McAuley

Learn more about our service from the people who use our service

 

Want to know more about the selling experience?

We spent some time with Darren McAuley, dentist and former owner of Sutton Dental Practice, to find out about his experiences with MediEstates, why he decided to sell and what it was like selling to Rodericks Dental.

 

Tell us a little bit about the practice

 

It was a mostly NHS practice that I bought six years after qualifying. I worked hard and saved every penny I earned to get a deposit down; I’d always wanted to own a practice.

The practice had a large NHS contract and the previous owners were actually missing the target, but every year we had the practice we successfully hit it. When I took over, they were doing a nominal amount in private dentistry whereas by the time I finished we increased this by 600%.

I took a business approach. It was a six-surgery practice that wasn’t always fully occupied so I got an implant specialist in, a few iTero scanners, a quicker computer system to speed things up a bit, and we installed air conditioning to create a better working environment. I was doing at most two days of dentistry a week and really focused on managing the business. By the end all six surgeries were filled five days a week and we were doing some private work on Saturday and Sunday mornings, too.

 

What made you decide to sell your practice?

 

I found being a Principal dentist on my own quite stressful and I realised quite quickly, that part time staff are good, because they have more energy, but I ended up with 25 staff this way.

I had decided not to do much dentistry because I felt that the practice would do better with me managing the business. Many people thought I was crazy, that I should be doing more dentistry and recruit a practice manager to manage things, but I just figured no one would – or should – care about it as much as I did. It was not necessarily the right approach, but it worked.

I enjoyed building the practice, but I think Covid was probably what ultimately pushed me to put it on the market. It sounds terrible but it makes you think that it could all happen again.

I’ve also got three children aged four, five and nine, and managing the practice left me with little time to spend with them. So, the key drivers for me were finding a better work-life balance but also to explore new ventures outside of the dental practice. All this culminated to make me feel that it was the right time to sell.

 

Why did you appoint MediEstates?

 

I have always been on the MediEstates mailing list and I have always received emails from them, so when I made the decision to sell, they were the most prominent in my mind.

 

How was your experience with the MediEstates team?

 

Great. The MediEstates team came in after hours to evaluate the practice and obviously, confidentiality and discretion were key. I had been thinking about selling for a while, and I knew roughly how much the practice was worth, so when I got the valuation the process was very quick and I was happy that it matched what I felt it was worth.

The MediEstates team were excellent. I found that they really listened. For example, when I requested the sale be kept confidential, they reassured me about the confidentiality right from the initial phases. There was always someone available on the phone to help when I needed it, the support was great. Sue, in the office, was always available on the phone, there was always someone to speak to. I think they also have very good relationships with the corporates so that really helped as well.

 

How was your experience of selling to a corporate buyer?

 

MediEstates had advised me that from the start the practice would be too expensive for most individuals, but within a week they had three corporates who were interested. They came in the evenings to look at it and I received offers from all three corporates who viewed it.

The Rodericks Dental ethos appealed to me because they are clinically led, everyone I dealt with was an ex-dentist, ex-practice manager, or ex-dental nurse, so that really influenced me as well. They have the patient’s best interest at heart. I believe that if you look after your patients and your staff properly then dentistry will be a profitable business and Rodericks Dental had the same sort of outlook on that as me, which, as well as meeting the valuation figure, resonated with me to sell to them.

Selling to Rodericks Dental made the process quick too, they took a corporate approach to the due diligence, which can be a time-consuming aspect. I think that’s something that people must be prepared for. Both MediEstates and Rodericks were very efficient throughout the sale.

 

How do you feel now you’ve sold your practice?

 

It’s been pretty good. The terms of the sale meant that I was tied in to work in the practice for a year and I enjoy working for Rodericks Dental, they’ve been very good. Now I do one full day and two half days a week in the practice, giving me the work-life balance I wanted.

I did enjoy owning the practice, we had a great team, a good patient base, and a lovely practice; hence why I'm still there. It’s a good place to work and Rodericks Dental have followed on from that.

 

Did you come across any challenges during the process?

 

My sale process was so smooth. It was smoother than a couple of the house sales I have been involved in. Obviously, the process is longer, and the amount of information required was a lot more than a house sale, but I understood the process and was expecting it, so I found it smoother than the house sales I was involved in.

 

Would you recommend MediEstates to other potential vendors?

 

Absolutely, 100%. The main reason people are concerned when they consider selling is worries around confidentiality and MediEstates were spotless in that regard.

 

 

Why not contact our team today and see how we can help with a free, no-obligation valuation?

 

Posted by: Guest Speaker - Darren McAuley on

General Buyer Terms 

This agreement is in relation to MediEstates Limited whose registered office is at 1st Floor, Pacific House, Stanier Way, Wyvern Business Park, Derby, DE21 6BF acting for and on behalf of our clients ("the Vendors"); and yourself (Buyer's Name) in relation for an introduction to a prospective sale of a business as a going concern. By registering through this agreement I agree to all terms set out below:

  1. Definitions
    In this Agreement the following terms and phrases shall have the following meaning unless the context otherwise requires:

    Business
    Dental Practice business providing dental care. This business is under the MediEstates Ltd sale terms.
    Confidential Information
    Means the actual Vendors identity and all confidential information in respect of the Business, including, but not limited to, any ideas, business methods, prices, accounts, finance, marketing, research, development, manpower plans, processes, market opportunities, intentions, design rights, product information, customer lists or details, employees’ details, trade secrets, computer systems and software, and other matters connected with the products or services manufactured, marketed, provided or obtained by the Vendor, and information concerning the Vendor’s relationships with actual or potential clients or customers and the needs and requirements of such clients’ or customers’ operations.
  2. Obligation of Confidentiality
    The Prospective Purchaser agrees to treat as confidential, information supplied by or on behalf of the Vendor in connection with the sale of the Business.
  3. Exclusions
    The obligation of confidentiality set out in clause 2 does not apply to:
    1. any information received from a third party who was legally free at the time of disclosure to disclose it;
    2. any information which was already lawfully in the Prospective Purchaser’s possession prior to receiving it from MediEstates Ltd on behalf of the Vendor; and
    3. any information which is in its entirety already in the public domain.
  4. Duties of Prospective Purchaser
    1. The Prospective Purchaser shall take such a reasonable security measures to protect the Confidential Information and trade secrets.
    2. The Prospective Purchaser shall not, without the prior written consent of the Vendor, permit any of the Confidential Information:
      1. to be disclosed, other than in confidence to its legal or professional advisors;
      2. to be copied or reproduced;
      3. to be commercially exploited in any way;
      4. to be used for any purpose other than in connection with the prospective purchase of the Business;
      5. MediEstates is registered under the Data Protection Act 2018. Upon Signing this agreement you agree to follow the legal obligations of this act to protect the details of the information supplied to you, with it no to be passed outside of the control of you the prospective purchaser.
    3. The Prospective Purchaser agrees to keep a record of Confidential Information received.
    4. The Prospective Purchaser will return to MediEstates or the Vendor all documents containing Confidential Information and all copies of those documents on demand at any time which are in its possession or under its control, and for this purpose the term “documents” includes computer discs and all other materials capable of storing data and information. The Prospective Purchaser agrees that such documents remain the property of the MediEstates on behalf of the Vendor.
    5. The Prospective Purchaser must not jeopardise or re-direct the sale under any circumstances.
    6. The Prospective Purchaser must not contact the Local Area Team or CCG regarding any practice sale, by any means of media unless written permission is granted from the Vendor.
    7. To carry out own due diligence on practice purchases and accepts that any information MediEstates has supplied is information provided by the vendor and is not responsible for its accuracy or completeness.
  5. This Agreement
    The existence of this Agreement and its terms are confidential and neither MediEstates nor the Purchaser may disclose anything about this Agreement or its subject matter or implementation to any person other than in confidence to their legal or professional advisers.
  6. Duties of Prospective Purchaser
    When buying Dental practices, finance is normally needed. Our organisation operated over more than one of the MediHoldings brand, by completing this from you agree that the information can be shared to our other organisations to avoid the need to register independently and provide the best possible service.

    MediEstates will refer you to the specialist dental lending team and MediFinancial who will contact the necessary banks, whom have preferential healthcare lending rates in some cases, to ascertain which funding is available to you.
    By signing this agreement you do not have to use any of the banks MediFinancial contact, it is just another service which we provide.
  7. Deposit for Dental Practice
    If you are interested in putting forward a formal offer in for a practice, once the offer is accepted there will be a deposit required to secure the practice sale which is dependant of the practice size. This deposit is held in a client account and will be returned to the buyer on completion of the practice sale. You the buyer, will be required to sign a deposit schedule which will cover the buyer and the seller in the event that the practice sale does not proceed.
  8. Changes to this Agreement
    Any changes made to this agreement must be authorised and signed by one of MediEstates Ltd Directors.
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