Contemporary Dental

Contemporary Dental, based on Queens Terrace in Exeter, has been running for over 25 years offering a range of general, cosmetic and implant dentistry. Providing patients with access to the most up-to-date dental treatments and utilising the latest innovations in digital technology, it has a loyal and growing patient list.

Originally set up by Bob Brazenall, the business was sold to current owner Dr Mark Russ in April 2019. One constant throughout has been the services of Simpkins Edwards.

Brought on board to handle the practice’s bookkeeping following the semiretirement of their previous bookkeeper, Dale Brazenall (practice manager and co-owner) was instantly impressed by the firm’s approach:

“Mark Simic and his team were incredibly helpful, taking the time to come in and meet our previous bookkeeper to ensure a smooth and seamless handover,” she says. “This gave us the confidence that our payroll and bookkeeping were being handled accurately and that all responsibilities to our staff were being met. They were incredibly helpful and organised, making life so much easier for us.”

Liking what they saw, Dale and Bob soon started to question the relationship they had with their incumbent accountant. “We’d been using the same firm for about 10 years,” says Dale. “But as they grew, we became less important to them. They had over promised and under delivered, particularly in light of their fees."

“We’d chosen to stay with them for the sake of continuity as we planned to sell the business, but it quickly became clear that working with Simpkins Edwards was by far the best option. So we asked them to take on the management of both the practice’s accounts and our tax affairs."

“Right from the very beginning, Mark was actively interested in what we were doing and was very proactive, offering sound advice. He knew that the aim was to sell the business and so helped us to streamline the finances of the practice so that it was easy to understand from the purchaser’s perspective."

“Importantly, the team at Simpkins Edwards always took the trouble to explain things clearly, which was really important for us and one of their real strengths. They always outlined what we needed to do, when."

“Just as we placed our patients at the centre of things, Simpkins Edwards adopted the same approach with us. We liked that,” says Dale.

“We only wished we’d made the move years before. They were a ray of sunshine.”

Working closely with many healthcare practices, Simpkins Edwards soon brought the practice’s accounting records and processes up to date, introducing QuickBooks Online to improve the efficiency of its bookkeeping and to produce relevant management information.

With the practice’s finances, accounting and tax affairs in good order, Mark was then able to provide advice on structuring a tax-efficient exit from the business for Bob and Dale, so that the couple could retire.

Pursuing a trade and asset sale, Mark worked closely with the couple’s solicitors to structure the deal, which was successfully completed in April 2019, transferring the premises, business title, goodwill and equipment into the ownership of Dr Mark Russ.

To help smooth the transition Bob, who continues to trade in his own right, has remained in post leading the practice’s dental implant team.

Also remaining in place is Simpkins Edwards, which continues to manage not only the practice’s accounts and bookkeeping, but also Bob and Dale’s business and tax affairs.

As Dale says: “With Mark’s help, we sold the business in the most tax-efficient way. We retained the limited company, which Bob still trades under, and on Mark’s advice we’ve implemented a more favourable profit extraction strategy. "

“Today, I handle the bookkeeping, but we still use Simpkins Edwards to manage our business accounts and personal tax returns. Mark also works closely with our IFA, which has been a big help in terms of our pensions. I couldn’t recommend Mark and the Simpkins Edwards team highly enough.”

As for the future, Bob and Dale intend to enjoy their retirement travelling around the world to see their seven children. But for now, Bob continues to enjoy working part-time within the practice that he set up over quarter of a century ago. As Dale says: “He likes the balance.”