PortmanDentex used its 2025 Leadership Conference to reset ambitions, outlining a sharper vision built on access, culture and clinical partnership.
As the pressures on UK dentistry intensify, what does decisive leadership look like?
Portmandentex used its 2025 Leadership Conference to answer that, setting out a renewed direction for the organisation – one defined by tackling access challenges, workforce expectations and a firm commitment to quality over size.
The day opened with an address from freshly-minted group CEO Paul Marshall, in his first public address since stepping into the role in August 2025.
He framed the moment through the familiar story of the three stonemasons: one cutting stone, one earning a living, and one building a cathedral. His point was clear. The organisation, he argued, now needs its people to reconnect with the broader purpose of their work – not as a rhetorical device, but as a key foundation for what comes next.
That sense of recalibration ran through the day. Even keynote speaker and business coach Chris Barrow, who warned delegates at the outset that ‘you won’t agree with everything I say’, underlined the practical pressures facing practices today: shifting patient expectations, intensifying competition, and the structural challenge of meeting demand. And while he provided the context, it was the PortmanDentex leadership team that came armed with the answers on how the group plans to respond.
A cathedral for 2030
At the centre of Paul’s address was an explicit vision: not necessarily to be the biggest dental group in the world, but to the best.
The mission – creating happier, healthier lives, one smile at a time – remains. But in comes a new emphasis on consistency, culture and clinical ambition as the levers that will define the next phase of growth. By 2030, Paul said, the group aims to be the place patients, clinicians, colleagues and partners most want to engage with – measured by quality, credibility and trust rather than raw scale.
He outlined six ambitions that will underpin this direction, with three themes in particular echoing across the rest of the day:
- Improving access to dentistry, and caring for more patients than any other UK group
- Establishing a credible clinical partner in every practice, supported by structured pathways, mentoring and a strengthened clinical voice in decision-making
- Supporting and elevating dental nurses, the largest workforce in the organisation, through clearer development routes and a new head of dental nursing role.
Paul acknowledged the scale of these purposefully ‘demanding’ ambitions, arguing that dentistry needs organisations willing to set higher expectations.
Progress, he suggested, will depend less on consolidation and more on the consistent execution of care, leadership and operational discipline across practices.
Portmandentex is building its own cathedral, he explained – and these priorities form its foundations.
Turning ambition into action
If the CEO’s address set the direction, the sessions that followed concentrated on delivery: how these ambitions translate into the day-to-day reality of practice life.
Chief clinical officer Rebecca Sadler addressed the need for greater consistency in patient experience. Many practices already do this well, she noted, but variation elsewhere reflects gaps in training, mentoring and support rather than a lack of intent.
‘We’re not starting from scratch,’ she explained. ‘Our bar is already very high. We’re a collection of some of the best practices in the UK and Ireland, delivering exceptional patient care, and that doesn’t happen by accident – it happens from skilled teams working together in partnership. But while we’re doing well, we know we need to improve further.’
She outlined four key priorities:
- Supporting teams to deliver ‘the best treatment for every patient, every time’
- Embedding clinical outcome reporting and structured mentoring
- Strengthening the role, recognition and progression of dental nurses, led by the new head of dental nursing
- Expanding clinical development through the PortmanDentex Academy.
Rebecca also reaffirmed the importance of the group’s ‘double helix’ – the partnership between clinical and operational leaders – as essential to improving standards and decision-making.
Proud to belong
Chief people officer Gordon Dunn and director of people Hannah James shifted the focus to culture and belonging. They emphasised that pride and belonging are not abstract values but reliable predictors of performance, retention and team resilience.
‘When humans come together with shared purpose, said Gordon. ‘And they feel proud to belong to something bigger than themselves, extraordinary things happen.’
They outlined a series of initiatives to strengthen that sense of belonging, including expanded wellbeing and inclusion tools, including mental health first aiders and menopause support, as well as a clearer benefits hub.
They also addressed dental nurse pay directly, acknowledging that across the profession it has long failed to reflect the complexity and responsibility of the role. A planned review of this aims to establish a fairer, more transparent framework, funded by more effective deployment of teams rather than increased workload.
Dentistry for everyone
The access challenge came to the fore with chief operating officer Louise Oates’ introduction of Portmandentex’s ‘dentistry for everyone’ ambition.
‘Millions of people are struggling to get the care they need’, she explained. ‘And today I want to talk about what that means for our patients, our teams and our practices, and how we can turn those challenges into real opportunities by making dentistry accessible to everyone.
Amidst improved claims processes, stronger patient engagement, and targeted recruitment of clinicians, Louise also highlighted the strategic importance of affordable private dentistry and patient plans, which can improve accessibility while supporting broader referral pathways.
A new clinician performance dashboard, offering real-time visibility over diaries and treatment mix, will give clinicians and practice managers clearer insight into opportunities for growth.
Innovation with purpose
No forward-looking dental event would be complete without some discussion of technology, and on this front the PortmanDentex digital and technology teams obliged, outlining a practical set of changes aimed at reducing friction for practice teams.
These include consolidating practice management systems, launching a new website platform, expanding intraoral scanning and digital workflows, and trialling AI tools for note taking, call handling and radiograph interpretation.
‘Being the best and reaching the forefront of digital technology by 2030 means we need to be taking action now,’ explained chief technology officer Guy Allen.
‘Our position in five years will be formed by the actions and the plans we deliver this year. But each of these projects will make life easier for patients and colleagues.’
Hospitality for the win
Chris Barrow’s keynote offered an external perspective on the competitive landscape.
He opened with a disclaimer – ‘You won’t agree with everything I say, and that’s OK’ – before dissecting the missteps made by most practices in attracting and retaining patients in his classic style: direct, uncompromising, and often hilarious.
He outlined why marketing is often deprioritised – until it becomes urgent, at which point it’s already a problem. But he confessed to ‘a certain degree of cynicism’ over external marketing channels, arguing that existing patients who already know and trust the practice, remain the most underused growth engine.
‘Everything is marketing,’ he said. ‘How the phone is answered, what a patient sees when they load the website, the tone, the environment.’ New patients, he added, ask only one real question: Do people like me go to this practice?
On AI, he was clear: it will not replace people, but it can give them back time. The differentiator, he argued, will not be technology adoption but hospitality. ‘The winners,’ he said, ‘will be the ones who embrace hospitality.’
Brick by brick
Closing the day, Paul Marshall returned to his cathedral metaphor, now backed by the six ambitions laid out by his senior team that will build it ‘brick by brick, smile by smile’.
‘We know exactly what we’re aiming for, he explained. ‘And we’re absolutely capable of getting there. The journey starts now: every improvement brings us closer to fulfilling our mission of happier, healthier lives, one smile at a time.’
Five years, he added, is long enough for meaningful change: from the first flight to the Atlantic crossing; from an idea to the first iPhone.
‘If the world can change in five years’, he told delegates. ‘Then so can we – and we will.’
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