Insight into the Northern Ireland dental market
by Cathy Murphy
Cathy Murphy, senior business agent at Christie & Co, shares insight into the current dental market in Northern Ireland.
Practice sales within Northern Ireland have developed at a slower rate than those sales within England, Scotland and Wales. Historically, the bulk of sales in the country were facilitated between principals and their associates, or to a buyer known to the owner of the business.
However, over the course of the past few years buyer appetite has changed and, while the market has always benefited from strong sales within the independent and first-time buyers, positively, as practices have grown, earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) have increased to a level that has attracted corporate operators and micro-consolidators. This has resulted in heightened activity as groups can now purchase a strong EBITDA at a lesser multiple than what they would pay in the rest of the UK for the same profit levels, which was a consequence of a previous lack of direct competition and active group activity.
As interest has grown, we are likely to see the emergence of new players in the market who are keen to build on and strengthen their portfolios, which will in turn increase prices as competition grows.
Market sentiment and survey findings
At Christie & Co, we recently carried out a survey focused on the Northern Ireland market to gain an understanding of the key areas affecting both NHS and private dentistry. More than half of the respondents felt positive or neutral about the sector for 2024/25. Notably, 75% of private practice owners and over half of the owners who own a mixed site felt positive about the year ahead.
It’s also clear that, within practice, private and plan schemes will be an area of continued growth through the coming 12 months, as over half (52%) of respondents said that they have noticed an increase in patient demand for high-end elective treatments, and almost a third of those respondents currently engaged in NHS dentistry, feel the largest area of growth will come through enhanced plan income. In addition, 32% of all respondents anticipate that general dentistry will see the most growth in the private sector in the coming 12 months.
Market activity
Market activity has increased overall in the last few years, and we are seeing a mix of sites across Northern Ireland, which further supports the strong market activity. Generally, mixed practices are doing extremely well, and larger private practices are attracting an excellent level of engagement from a wide catchment of buyers.
Notably, our recent survey has highlighted that over 58% of dental operators have noted an increase demand for in NHS dentistry.
Given that we have seen many operational challenges over the last few months, it is interesting that, of those surveyed, 46% of practice owners feel that recruitment will be the biggest challenge over the next 12 to 24 months. However, associates, hygienists and other respondents feel the biggest challenge will be within NHS dentistry itself.
Given the rise in patient demand for dentistry in Northern Ireland, profits are strengthening across practices. With the emergence of new buyers in the market alongside an active independent pool of buyers Christie & Co expects to see heightened sale activity across all types of practices moving forward.
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