When designing the practice, or at least trying to find people to help me design the practice because I had no idea what I was doing, I turned to a supply company that I knew well. I asked the team to start delivering what I wanted to be the vision for the most significant thing I would ever do.
It was a shame because I was really disappointed with what was delivered, and in fact, so were some of the senior people in that place because nobody seemed to want to use their imagination the way I was asking them to.
And so, I reached out to Karl O'Higgins, the managing director of Planmeca at the time, on a contact I'd had from Chris Barrow.
I'd met Karl previously and knew of him and knew that he was really big on dental design. We met in a coffee shop in Nottingham for an hour-long meeting, which lasted 3.5 hours, and I got a parking ticket.
Karl was instrumental in the design of the practice. However, he changed career direction part way through the project, handing the reins over to Luke at Planmeca, now one of our closest allies and confidantes.
Our relationship with Planmeca developed through that time through the ups and downs of the build process and the challenges and, difficulties and successes of trying to run a practice like ours.
But through all of that, they have stood side by side with us, and nothing has ever been too much bother or difficulty.
I can phone James Smith at any point or Luke at any moment to discuss things or challenges or difficulties, and they can call me, and we help each other out as much as we can.
Luke asked me to speak at an event in London this summer. When I got there, it was a total disaster with really only about ten people in the auditorium, but that was absolutely fine because I was helping our friends and our partners at Planmeca.
We've recently instructed Planmeca to install the memory foam upholstery on the five chairs in the practice that we never had through the build process.
They provide a chair which is extraordinarily comfortable for patients, but I could only afford one of the upholstery settings in our main surgical room in the practice because we were running out of money.
I've never known any effect greater in a dental surgery than the upholstery on that chair.
Almost every patient that sits in it comments on how fantastic it is, and it's been something of a little bit of a meme and a joke in our practice as to how impactful that has been when we never really realized how big it would be.
And so, we find ourselves in a position where we're now reviewing the practice and making it better again, and so we've spent the money with Planmeca to add the upholstery to these chairs.
This is the type of thing you do with partners.
So, we filter this in and plan it, and there it comes, and then as we look now to plan Unit Four and the next building, we go back with Planmeca, and we start again.
We work hard on joint marketing and events, and we're always on the end of the phone if we can help in any way, but so are they.
Therefore, if we have a problem, they will fix it, and we know they will even if we encounter difficulties that are unexpected.
Isn't that the best way to work with people?
Isn't it better that you work in a partnership where all problems are only a short conversation away from being fixed instead of a relationship where you think you have to hit someone with a cricket bat to get something done?
I have 25-year partnerships with people in the dental industry and a developing partnership with Planmeca, which has now been years and through many difficult events.
I hope that we continue this for many years to come.
Thank you to Luke and the team.
Blog Post Number 3570