Spire Healthcare spends £12m to snap up private GP business amid growing demand in the UK
Spire snapped up a private GP services provider for £12million as it expands its business amid growing demand in the UK.
The FTSE 250 healthcare group bought The Doctors Clinic Group, which operates 22 clinics and has more than 700 corporate clients.
The business, which employs 279 people – two-thirds of which are clinicians – is expected to deliver £11million in revenues this year and start turning a profit in 2024.
Private GPs: FTSE 250 healthcare group Spire has bought The Doctors Clinic Group, which operates 22 clinics and has more than 700 corporate clients
Spire said the purchase would broaden its healthcare offering amid ‘increased demand’ for its UK services as the NHS struggles to cope with staff shortages and growing waiting lists.
It added the acquisition would complement the work done by its 39 private hospitals and eight clinics across England, Wales and Scotland and allow it to capitalise on the growing need for face-to-face GP visits among Britons.
Spire also noted that demand for occupational health, another service provided by The Doctors Clinic, had been growing in the UK by 7 per cent annually over the last five years as companies sought out better ways to support their employees.
‘The Doctors Clinic Group will provide Spire with a strong platform to enter and expand in the fast-growing occupational health sector, and to increase our capacity to meet the burgeoning need for private GP services,’ said Spire boss Justin Ash.
Spire highlighted that The Doctors Clinic had a ‘particularly strong’ footprint in central London, which would allow it to gain a foothold in the capital’s primary care market.
The firm’s shares rose 0.5 per cent, or 1p, to 221p.
Spire’s move to expand its presence into occupational health comes as businesses across the UK struggle with a tight labour pool as many workers left the job market due to long-term sickness during the pandemic.