The UNW Dental Business Unit, led by Alan Suggett, provides advisory services to approximately 300 dentists across the UK. They help with various aspects of owning and operating a dental practice such as buying or selling a practice, maximizing profitability, minimizing taxes, payroll, fees, strategic planning, practice structures, accounting systems, and the NHS pension scheme. They also provide services tailored to associates such as tax advice and ensuring proper NHS pension calculations. Their team includes specialists in accounting, taxation, and those with dental industry experience.

1. Dental Business Unit
Advising Dentists throughout the UK

2. The UNW Dental Business Unit, led by
Alan Suggett is a leading national
dental advisory team.
We act for approximately 300 dentists
spread throughout the UK.
This booklet provides more detail about
how we help our dentist clients.
Advising dentists

3. Contents
Acting for practice owners Page
Buying a practice 3
Selling your practice 4
Maximising practice profitability 5
Minimising tax 6
Payroll 7
Fees 8
Strategic planning 9
What is the best structure for your practice? 10
Accounting systems 11
NHS pension scheme 12
Incorporation 13
Acting for associates Page
Our approach 14
Buying your first practice 3
NHS pension scheme 15
Information for everyone Page
The UNW dental team 16
Our credentials 17

4. 3
“I bought a dental practice for the first
time and really needed good help and
advice. I found Alan (Suggett) to be
extremely knowledgeable in all aspects
related to the purchase and he was able
to guide me through the process very
easily. He was particularly helpful in
drawing up a business plan and
calculating a suitable price to offer the
vendor. He was always contactable if
advice was needed and he also
introduced me to very experienced
people in areas such as banking,
insurance cover and legal matters”
Greg Cadman
Collingham Dental Practice
• We can help you find a practice
to buy
• Evaluate whether a practice will
be viable for you
• Help you negotiate favourable
purchase terms, including a tax
efficient purchase cost allocation
• Introduce you to lenders and
help you get a good deal
• Advise you about the best
structure to operate the practice
(sole trade, limited company, etc)
Buying a practice

5. 4
Selling your practice
“When selling my practice
UNW provided an expert
and professional service
giving wise counsel which I
much appreciated.”
Andrew Farr
Sackville Road Orthodontic Clinic
• We can help you with “tactics” on
sale to maximise your value
• Our knowledge of the Goodwill
market can help your sale
negotiation
• We’ll help you minimise tax on
sale
• An experienced and independent
advisor to relieve your stress and
help with your decisions

6. 5
Maximising practice profitability
“Alan Suggett has provided
accountancy services and advice to our
dental practices for a number of years.
His experience of working with local
dental practitioners and understanding
of the business of dentistry is unrivalled
in the North East. When we expanded
the practice his knowledge of goodwill
values and financial modelling was
particularly helpful.”
Paul Blaylock
Sunderland Road Dental Practice
• We’ll prepare a report for your
practice analysing areas of
strength and weakness based on
the annual NASDAL
benchmarking survey of
hundreds of practices
• We’ll quantify the amounts of
extra potential profit to be earned
• We can help you measure
improvements as part of a profit
improvement plan

7. 6
Minimising tax
“With input from his colleagues at
UNW Alan has helped us
to mitigate the effects on our
business of the planned changes
in tax regime in April 2010 and
2011, taking into account the clear
benefits of the incorporation of
our business on which he also
provided advice.”
Paul Blaylock
Sunderland Road Dental Practice
• UNW has six tax partners and a
team of approximately 30 tax
advisers – almost 50% of our
staff are tax professionals
• You probably aren’t Jimmy Carr
or Gary Barlow – so we’ll advise
you accordingly
• We’ll do our best to advise you
so that your tax bill is minimised
– but you can sleep at night
• Whether annually, on practice
sale, or on death – we’ll help
minimise taxes

8. 7
Payroll
“The UNW payroll team have
relieved me of all the stress of
pay calculations and dealing
with HMRC. Joanne and Helen
are very friendly and don't
mind helping when we're not
sure what to do.”
Janice Jones
Silver & Charlton
• We have a payroll bureau with
dedicated staff
• We’re not a call centre so will
look after your staff sensitively
• We can even pay your staff
using our BACS facility
• Payroll is even more complicated
with the advent of RTI and Auto
enrolment – but we’re up to
speed and can relieve you of this
stress
• Our payroll bureau can take the
stress from you

9. 8
Fees
“Alan Suggett and the UNW
Dental team are excellent –
extremely knowledgeable
about dental practices and the
business of dentistry.”
Ross Hobson
Windmill Dental Suite
• Most of our fees are fixed, and
agreed with you in advance
• We don’t charge extra for
telephone calls or emails
• You can pay us on a monthly
basis if you’d prefer
• No surprises!

10. 9
Strategic planning
“Alan Suggett’s help in providing an
analysis of our business and
creating a strategic plan for the next
few years has been invaluable. His
specialist knowledge of the
business of dentistry has helped us
to explore the options available to
us and helped us decide the
direction of our practice.”
Kevin Gibney
St Pauls Dental Care & Implant Centre,
Southport
• The UNW Strategic Development
Programme (SDP) is a tried and
tested, systematical approach to
strategic planning
• If you’d like to be more focused
and plan for how you’d like your
business future to unfold, we can
help
• You’ll have objectives, an action
plan and a review process
• Fixed fee strategic planning
projects start from £1,000 plus VAT
• Where are you now, where would
you like to be?

11. 10
Sole trade, incorporation, LLP, expense sharing, partnership?
We’ll help and advise about all of the important issues
Goodwill
ownership
Shareholders
Limited company
issues
Associate
NHS pension
Involvement
of spouse
Principal’s
NHS pension
Income
tax saving
What is the best structure for your practice?

12. 11
Accounting systems
“We've always been very happy
with the service from UNW - very
comprehensive and precise, with a
level of understanding of limited
companies far superior to our last
accountant. In addition, Xero helped
us to deal with the banks demands
effectively.”
Roger Poynton
Kimberworth Park Practice Limited
• We work with many computerised
accounting systems (and even your manual
books if you insist!)
• We can recommend, configure and train you
and your staff if you would like to improve
record keeping
• We’ll work with you on “the Cloud” if you like
(usually using a system called Xero)
• We have experience of designing
sophisticated reporting systems measuring
a range of KPI’s in addition to monthly profit
and loss accounts and balance sheets
• If you produce good monthly reports we’ll
“desk review” these for you (to give you
extra confidence) free of charge as a
reward!
• Keeping records (“the books”) efficiently

13. 12
NHS pension scheme (NHSPS)
“Alan Suggett of UNW has
detailed knowledge of the
NHS superannuation
pension scheme which I
found invaluable as I
moved into retirement.”
Andrew Farr
Sackville Road Orthodontic Clinic
• At no extra cost we’ll review your
NHSPS entitlement annually
• It’s complicated, and the Rules &
Regulations often aren’t clear, but
we can help you make sure your
entitlement is right
• Beware of the rules which apply
to incorporated practices – we’ll
guide you if this affects you
• Despite recent changes it’s still a
marvellous benefit

14. 13
Incorporation
“We have known of Alan for a number of
years through our mutual Bank
connections. More recently, we have
worked together on a number of agency
projects across the UK and have found him
to be straightforward, very commercial and
always with his client’s best interests at
heart. Alan has an in depth knowledge of
the dental sector and is our ‘go to’ person
in matters relating to dental incorporation
and the like. He has an excellent reputation
across the industry and backs up his
technical knowledge with a refreshing ‘can
do’ attitude.”
Simon Hughes
Director and Head of Medical,
Christie + Co
• But, there are a number of potential pitfalls
such as:
– tax problems
– NHS pension problems
– possible breach of contract
• We have considerable experience in
guiding practice owners from an initial
evaluation of financial savings, smoothly
through to operating as a dental body
corporate
• Our fees for incorporation are fixed and
agreed with you in advance
• If you are interested in incorporation ask
us for a copy of our “Incorporation
Flowchart” and list of “Pros and Cons”
• Incorporating your dental practice can be
very tax effective

15. 14
Associates – our approach
“I have been delighted with the
service we have received from
UNW. Of all the accountants
we've dealt with in the last 10
years UNW have been streets
ahead of the competition!”
Angus Pringle
Associate
• Some of our biggest dental clients
have been with us since they were
associates
• Fixed fees, including unlimited
telephone and email support
• We have a dedicated team, on your
wavelength
• We’ll do our best to minimise your
tax liability
• We’ll make sure your NHS pension
calculation is right (surprisingly most
accountants don’t do this)
• When the time comes we’ll help you
find and buy a practice

16. 15
Associates – the NHS pension scheme
“Thank you very, very much for
your guidance in pensions.
You are the first person to lead
me through the pension
system. I'm very glad that I
have moved to UNW.”
Elisabeta Ormenisan
Associate
• In 2012 the NHSPS rules were
clarified with regard to Associate /
Performer pension entitlements
• The correct basis of associate
pensionable pay is the amount paid
(not 43.9% of gross fees)
• This important clarification will result
in most associates pensionable
earnings increasing
• We will check this for you
• Pension nightmare – are you
affected?

17. 16
The UNW dental team
A blend of accounting and taxation expertise with dental
knowledge and experience.
Alan Suggett
Dental Business Unit Partner
T: 07860 246 718
E: alansuggett@unw.co.uk
Liam Richardson
Dental Business Unit Manager
T: 0191 243 6079
E: liamrichardson@unw.co.uk
Sarah Coombs
Tax Manager
T: 0191 243 6085
E: sarahcoombs@unw.co.uk
Simon Richards
Tax Partner
T: 0191 243 6002
E: simonrichards@unw.co.uk
Louise Main
Tax Manager
T: 0191 243 6083
E: louisemain@unw.co.uk
James Bell
Tax Manager
T: 0191 243 6091
E: jamesbell@unw.co.uk

18. 17
Our credentials
UNW
• Acts for approximately 300
dentists, spread throughout the UK
• Member of NASDAL – National
Association of Specialist Dental
Accountants and Lawyers
• Member of ASPD – Association of
Specialist Providers to Dentists
Alan Suggett
• Member of NASDAL Technical
Committee
• Chair of NASDAL Superannuation
Committee (which meets with
NHSPS and BDA)
• Editor of NASDAL quarterly
goodwill survey
• Presents at BDA seminars and
other national and regional events
• Regularly writes articles published
in the dental press

19. This publication has been prepared for general guidance on matters of interest only, and does not constitute professional advice. You should not act upon the
information contained in this publication without obtaining specific professional advice. No representation or warranty (express or implied) is given as to the
accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this publication, and to the extent permitted by law, UNW LLP, its members, employees and agents
do not accept or assume any liability, responsibility or duty of care for any consequences of you/or anyone else acting, or refraining to act, in reliance on the
information contained in this publication or for any decision based on it.
In this document ‘UNW’ refers to UNW LLP, a limited liability partnership in the United Kingdom.