Member Article

London dental startup sees turnover boost thanks to Natwest funding

Vitaldent, a London-based dental startup, is moving towards the £1m turnover mark thanks to support from NatWest and its asset finance arm, Lombard.

Vitaldent, which is located just off Bishopsgate in the heart of the City of London and opened nearly three years ago, has seen a turnover boost after sustained growth and investment.

The business was established by entrepreneurial duo, Mark Schaberg and Bob Ward, who met nearly 20 years ago while working in the IT sector.

Together with their business partner Dr Nilesh Shukle, who has also been the owner and Principal Dentist of the successful Staff Clinic at the Royal London Dental Hospital for over 20 years, the two men spent two years researching and writing a business plan for the new practice.

They decided to set-up in Bishopsgate, partly to take advantage of the large working population in the area, where busy City workers want convenient, high quality treatment.

Vitaldent was initially helped off the ground with a loan from NatWest and asset finance from Lombard, which enabled the practice to be kitted out.

The business has continued to work closely with both the bank and Lombard, both of whom have provided a second round of funding to facilitate growth, incorporating asset finance that was used to upgrade equipment.

This included the acquisition of a panoramic x-ray machine and dentist chairs with combined multimedia devices that allow patients to view the treatment they are having.

The practice currently employs 10 staff and is aimed at patients requiring general dentistry as well as those looking for high-end cosmetic and orthodontic treatments such as braces and implants.

Commenting on the support from NatWest and Lombard, commercial director Bob Ward said: “When we’d completed our initial business plan we attended a dental show to speak to various banks and it was obvious NatWest was the only player in town. “We received funding to start the business and asset finance to get the kit. We’re now looking at a patient base of over 3,000 and NatWest and Lombard have been with us every step of the way.”

Mark Schaberg, managing director, said: “The finance we’ve had access to has enabled us to be more efficient while also expanding our services. The business is moving towards a £1 million turnover in the next 12 months and we’ll continue to work on consolidating the qualities we already have as well as sustaining our growth into the future.”

Deepan Lakhani, senior relationship manager at NatWest said: “It’s been great to work with Vitaldent and see the business grow. We’re already talking to Mark and Bob about the next phase and potentially adding more practices in the longer term.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .