Dental business creates innovative idea at new headquarters
A MAJOR pioneering concept has been launched at a Yorkshire dental business.
Dentureshop, which simplifies the process of obtaining new dentures, has been created by HQ Dental Laboratory, at its new £1m premises in Leeds. The dental group received £500,000 backing from Yorkshire Bank’s Business and Private Banking Centre in the city.
HQ Dental Laboratory’s new 12,000 sq ft, four-floor headquarters also includes a new training school for dentists, technicians and hygienists, which will be launched this summer.
The group, which relocated from premises in Pudsey, also has a base in York. It manufactures crowns, bridges, dentures, implants and other medical devices for dental surgeons throughout the UK.
Richard Wainwright, managing director of HQ Dental Laboratory, said getting new dentures traditionally involves several technical stages where pallet impressions are taken by a dentist and sent away to a dental laboratory. Dentureshop allows the whole process to be carried out in one place with new dentures being supplied in one week.
He said: “We’ve simplified everything and our dentists, technicians and patients work together through every stage.
“This has been a massive project for us which has taken a long time and Yorkshire Bank saw the benefits and agreed to support us when other lenders would not. Our business, patients and dentists would not be benefiting from this if it were not for Yorkshire Bank’s ability to take a long-term view.”
HQ Dental Laboratory was founded in 1986 by Richard Wainwright, a former dental technician, when he was 19. The business now has 50 staff and a turnover of almost £4m a year.
David Maybury, head of Yorkshire Bank’s Business and Private Banking Centre in Leeds, said: “Dental care is a significant growth area as people are more health conscious and also understand the cosmetic benefits of good teeth. HQ Dental Laboratory has a pioneering concept with Dentureshop and we’re pleased to support such an exciting development.”
