Portman Dental Care

Portman was founded in 2008 by Sam Waley-Cohen,[7] with the vision to create a group of dental practices which are focused on the needs of the individual, both as a patient and as a customer. From the first practice joining in Maidenhead in 2009, Portman has maintained a clear focus on clinical freedom, allowing clinicians the autonomy to provide the best possible patient care.

In December 2021, Julie Ross was announced as the new MD of Portman Healthcare, UK & Ireland,[8] UK & Ireland with Founder Sam Waley-Cohen moving into the role of Group CEO.

Established in 2008 and acquiring its first practice in Maidenhead in 2009, the group has grown through acquiring like-minded practices with a private focus.

By March 2011 the business had grown to eight dental practices employing 170 staff and by 2013 it has grown to 15 dental practices. It took over Apollonia House Dental and Healthcare in Grasscroft in 2015 and the practice was named the Portman Dental Practice of the Year in August 2016. At that point the company owned 45 dental practices across the UK.

In 2018 it had over 80 practices across the UK.

The group won 11 NHS contracts for orthodontics in 2019 and opened a series of specialist orthodontic practices - ‘Portman Smile Clinic[9]’ throughout 2019.

That same year (2019), Portman welcomed its 100th practice in the same year that it marked its 10 year anniversary of acquisitive business.

Despite the challenges of the pandemic, Portman continued to grow in 2021 and acquired prestigious practice, The Dental Surgery, in Corn Exchange in London in April 2021 as the 150th practice.[10]

Portman led the way in promoting the need for dental practices to open as soon as possible during the pandemic to avoid creating a dangerous backlog and missed diagnoses.[11]

As one of the first dental groups to re-open during the pandemic in June 2020, Portman invested millions of pounds in additional safety measures and shared its Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)[12] with the wider dental community. To further support the industry and consumers, it also developed a series of professional and patient-centric communications[13] that saw them nominated for two COVID response awards in 2021.

In 2019 Portman won ‘Best Business Transformation Management Team[14]’ at the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (BVCA) Management Team Awards.

From 2017-2020, it won ‘Outstanding Business of the Year[15]’ for four consecutive years at the Dental Industry Awards with a fifth nomination as a finalist in 2021. Alongside the group awards, individual practices and clinicians from the wider group being nominated and winning industry awards.

To mark its response to the pandemic, it was nominated for ‘Best Covid-19 Response in Healthcare’ and ‘Best Customer Service During Covid-19’ at the Covid Response Awards 2021.