After qualifying in 1990 from Newcastle University, Mike Simpson worked as an associate for several years in the Ryton Tyne Valley area of Tyne and Wear. It wasn't until 1995 that his vision for a large practice of his own started to come together. After some time searching he purchased a one surgery practice situated on the outskirts of Helsby, a large commuter village in the north west of Cheshire.
Located in a terraced house, at the end of a row of four, Helsby Dental is conveniently located near a row of shops with easy access to the M56 and the neighbouring town of Frodsham. Here Mike handpicked a small team and started to build up his patient list. However, significant growth of the business was always going to be limited by the size of the premises, so when the next door cottage came up for sale in 2004 Mike seized the opportunity to expand the practice into it. The result is a five surgery practice now employing 12 people with around 8,000 NHS and 2,000 private patients.
The conversion of the next door premises created a modern practice within the shell of the former cottage connected with the existing building. Mike left his own surgery untouched at first but after a few years it began to feel dated alongside the brighter, more modern interior of the rest of the practice.
Mike said, 'I'd had thoughts of modernising my room after the next door refurbishment but I couldn't face the upheaval, so we put the idea on the backburner for a while. It wasn't until 2008 that I felt ready to take on another project and considered it again.'
Two years later in 2010, detailed planning began. To assist with the surgery design and equipment purchasing Mike engaged Simon Pearce at McKillop Dental. McKillop had already worked with him on the conversion of the next door property.
'I knew we could all work with Simon and his team and the service they would deliver would be of the highest standard so I had no hesitation in commissioning them again to work on this project with me.'
The overhaul of Mike's surgery required complete gutting of the room and removing everything back to the bare walls and floor boards. McKillop then managed contractors to decorate the room and install new flooring and lighting. Karen Frodsham, Mike's nurse, chose the new units so she could position and organise her stock and equipment to her own requirements and a new treatment centre was installed. Mike had already bought the Clesta II from Takara Belmont for one of his associate's surgeries and liked its design features and flexible functionality. He had also been impressed by its reliability and ease of servicing. It was this trust in its performance and overall value for money that led him to order the same chair again for his own surgery.
The work was planned to coincide with Mike's annual two week summer holiday, so no patient appointments needed rescheduling while the surgery was out of action. Mike had complete confidence in his staff and dental supplier to deliver the project within the timeframe and to the specification they had agreed.
He said: 'When you're doing a project like this you really need to have faith in your dental supplier and take their advice, they have the experience and expertise gained through many similar projects, so they really are the experts. While I was away McKillop managed all the contractors without any issues. The staff were delighted that throughout the work the noise was kept to a minimum and there was no disruption to patients which was brilliant.'
On Mike's return from holiday he wasn't disappointed with the end result. 'The surgery looks absolutely amazing, my only regret is that I didn't do it years ago. I thought the work would be more disruptive and just the thought of the upheaval put me off doing it sooner. Now the surgery looks modern, bright and airy and we have plenty of space for the equipment and stock. So many patients have commented on just how pleasant it is. I'd really recommend anyone considering this sort of project to bite the bullet and just go for it.'