Over the last 12 months, both {my}dentist and DD have continued to make strong progress and are well-placed to continue building on that success in the future.
In {my}dentist, we have seen encouraging performance with earnings growth of more than 13%, good cost control and productivity improvement, and, most important of all, a sustained focus on providing outstanding care to patients and increasing clinician engagement.
Listening to our front line dentists is what sets {my}dentist apart, and over the last 12 months, we have gathered extensive feedback to better understand how we can support clinicians. We continue to invest in our practices and our teams, replacing over 200 dental chairs, creating the largest clinical support network of any provider, installing broadband across all of our practices, improving the equipment and materials clinicians use, and investing in the development of our practice support teams so that every clinician has the best possible environment to treat patients.
I am determined to ensure {my}dentist is the best place to grow a dental career anywhere in the country. That is why the continued success of the {my}dentist Academy, which last year delivered around 70,000 hours of clinical CPD, the growth of our 400-strong network of NHS and private mentors, and our unrivalled clinical support team, is so crucial to our success.
The roll-out of our new approach to affordable private dentistry, {my}options, has been particularly well-received by both patients and clinicians and is ahead of schedule. We have also made strong progress with supporting clinicians to grow their private careers, for example through the second wave of our Advanced Oral Health Centres.
Dental Directory has been rebranded to DD with its previous sub-brands being integrated into one system and e-commerce platform. 2019 has been a year of turnaround for DD, but the business has started the 2020 financial year well with several contract wins, including becoming the exclusive UK distributor for Galderma’s aesthetics portfolio, with a potential incremental revenue of more than £35m.
While there is still more to do, there is no doubt that the fundamentals of the business remain strong, we have a clear plan in place and both {my}dentist and DD are moving in the right direction. Our priority for the year ahead is to maintain this progress.
We have entered the new financial year in a strong position, and on behalf of the board, I would like to thank everyone across the Group for their continued commitment and hard work.
10683 Annual Report 2019