Mydentist has reported deeper losses as it seeks to bolster its workforce with more international recruits following the º£½ÇÊÓƵ Government's easing of regulations.
The company, which ranks among the top dental chains in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ, has attributed its recruitment challenges to the scarcity of dental school places domestically and the limited opportunities for foreign hires to take the Overseas Registration Exam (ORE).
Nevertheless, with last year's regulatory amendments, Mydentist is now positioned to increase its intake of dentists from abroad, as reported by .
Headquartered in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, the firm has recently forged a partnership with an Indian dental school "as a first step to maximising the opportunity".
It said: "Mydentist has continued to expand its recruitment capabilities in order to increase the number of clinician hours available to patients, although the recruitment market has remained challenging.
"Mydentist continues to recruit clinicians from both º£½ÇÊÓƵ and overseas sources, however the supply of clinicians from within the º£½ÇÊÓƵ is constrained by the limited number of places available across º£½ÇÊÓƵ dental schools."
Additionally, the availability of overseas clinicians has been limited by the number of slots to sit the Overseas Registration Exam (ORE).
The group said: "The changes of the Section 60 legislation enacted by the government in early 2023 are expected to substantially reduce the barriers to recruiting clinicians from overseas, but opening up additional routes for overseas clinicians to sit the ORE."
Recently filed accounts with Companies House reveal that Mydentist reported a pre-tax loss of £57m for the year ending 31 March, 2024, following a loss of £35.6m in the previous year. However, the company's revenue saw an increase over the 12 months, rising from £534.6m to £573.8m.
The reduction in dental practices from 545 to 534 was part of Mydentist's "growth strategy, which involves the merger, relocation or expansion of smaller practices with limited growth opportunities", according to the firm.
These results follow the sale of DD Group Holdings by Mydentist, backed by Palamon Capital Partners, to an affiliate of Sun European Partners in June 2022.
Mydentist attributed the decrease in its operating profit from £16m to £6.1m primarily to an £11.1m expenditure related to "systems transformation" and a one-off charge of £7.7m to exit a fixed price utilities contract.
The company also noted that its results in the previous financial year were boosted by a profit of £65.8m from discontinued operations, of which £64.3m was a gain from the disposal of the DD division.
The board of Mydentist said: "Whilst the market for clinical recruitment within the º£½ÇÊÓƵ continues to be challenging, the directors are encouraged by continued strong patient demand for both the group's NHS and private dentists services as well as the performance of the recently merged, relocated and expanded practices under the organic growth programme, which have seen strong demand from both patients and clinicians.
"The directors also believe that the group remains well positioned to benefit from the opportunity created by the legislative changes to Section 60 that came into effect in 2023.
"These regulatory changes will substantially reduce the barriers to recruiting clinicians from overseas and are expected to have a beneficial impact from the end of FY2025 onwards."
On their international strategy, the board said: "The group has recently agreed a partnership with a leading dental school in India as a first step to maximising the opportunity."
The company's employment figures for the year showed a slight decline, with the average number of employees dropping from 6,414 to 6,289.
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