A Stevenage-based dentist has realised her dreams of owning her own business after receiving £600,000 in funding from Santander Business Banking. Dr Sonal Patel, a specialist in root canal treatment, cosmetic dentistry and preventative dentistry in children, has seized the opportunity to acquire Broadwater Dental Practice (“Broadwater”) in Stevenage just four months after joining the business in December last year.
Dr Patel has been a practising dentist for 13 years. She moved to Broadwater in December, having worked previously at a practice in South London where she provided treatment to numerous patients with high dental needs. The opportunity to purchase the practice arose when the owner decided to sell up because of health issues.
Broadwater supports 10,000 patients and has been serving the local community for 40 years. Dr Patel plans to expand the range of cosmetic treatments and to utilise new technologies to diversify the customer base over the coming months. She hopes to hire another dentist later this year and extend the opening hours to help local patients who may struggle with traditional clinical opening times after commuting back from the city.
Santander Business Banking has a dedicated team focused on supporting healthcare across the UK, and has become a leading provider of finance and support for the sector over the past five years. To showcase this expertise, Santander will be exhibiting at the Dentistry Show at Birmingham’s NEC on 18-19 May.
Dr Sonal Patel, Owner, Broadwater Dental Practice, said: “Becoming a business owner has been a great experience, and the support from Martin and his team at Santander has been invaluable throughout the process. I’m really excited to be able to start introducing more treatments and expanding the opening hours so we can offer much-needed flexibility for our patients.”
Martin Boehmer, Relationship Director, Santander Business Banking, said: “We are delighted to have been able to support Dr Sonal on her path to business ownership and look forward to working with her on the exciting plans for the practice. She has a loyal customer base and we are confident this will only increase as she expands the treatments on offer. The dentistry sector has become a core specialism for Santander and we are growing our book of clients across the UK.”
- Ends -
The information contained in our press releases is intended solely for journalists and should not be used by consumers to make financial decisions.
Notes to editors
For media enquiries regarding Broadwater Dental Practice please contact Dr Sonal Patel on: sonalpatel20@hotmail.com
Santander Media Enquiries
Lara Lipsey T: 020 7756 4518 M: 07713 560 209 E: lara.lipsey@santander.co.uk
Josephine Dencker T: 020 7756 4221 M: 0759 2113877 E: josephine.dencker@santander.co.uk
The Santander Business Banking press office operates from 8.00am to 6.00pm. Outside of these hours please call 0800 5877708.