Four ways to grow a dental practice with Samera
Samera works with UK dental practice owners and groups at every stage of growth – from a single practice that has plateaued on profit through to PE-backed DSOs running 30 sites. The growth work is split into four products rather than one because the right help for a 1-site owner is not the same as the right help for a 20-site DSO. Trying to deliver both through one product would short-change both.
All four are led by Arun Mehra FCA, Samera’s CEO and a dental practice owner since 2008. If you already know which one fits, the page for it is one click away. If you don’t, book the free 30-minute consultation and we’ll tell you.
Each card below links to a full page with deliverables, pricing and team detail.
Entry diagnostic
Growth Strategy Session
£500 + VAT, 60 minutes with Arun, no retainer commitment
For
Single-practice owners and small groups who want one good conversation about their numbers, not a monthly retainer.
What it is
A one-off paid diagnostic. Arun looks at four areas of your business in advance (revenue mix, costs, debt position, where the next bit of growth is most likely to come from), spends 60 minutes with you live, and follows up in writing. If you become a Samera client within 90 days, the £500 comes off your first invoice.
Why it exists
Most owners don’t need a monthly retainer. They need one good look at the numbers by someone who knows the sector. The GSS is that look.
Four-tier monthly retainer
Samera Growth Advisory
From £1,500/mo at Tier 2 up to £6,000+/mo at Tier 4 for PE-backed groups
For
Owners and groups who want financial leadership in the room every month – from 2-site owners through to PE-backed DSOs.
What it is
A four-tier retainer ladder. Tier 1 (Entry) is the GSS plus on-demand specialist work. Tier 2 (Foundation, £1,500/mo) adds a monthly accounts review and a quarterly CFO meeting. Tier 3 (Growth, £3,500/mo) adds an Arun-led monthly board meeting, acquisition modelling and debt structuring. Tier 4 (Strategic / DSO advisory, £6,000+/mo) adds investor representation, M&A pipeline work and PE-grade reporting.
Why it exists
A retainer means the financial leadership is in the room every month, not invoiced project by project. The four tiers mean you start where your group actually is, not where someone wants to sell to you.
Project-priced institutional build
Financial Infrastructure build
From £tens-of-thousands, scoped to the size of the group
For
Groups of 10+ sites preparing for a refinance, capital raise, PE event or institutional sale.
What it is
A finite project that builds the financial reporting and control set-up an institutional buyer or lender wants to see. Seven distinct deliverables – reporting blueprint, KPI architecture, normalised EBITDA framework, month-end close checklist, forecast model, due diligence folder, dashboard requirements. Run through a UK + India delivery team. 3-6 months from kick-off to handover.
Why it exists
Buying a Tier 3 retainer does not on its own give you a board pack a PE buyer will pay top multiple for. The FI build is the discrete project that gets your reporting to investor-grade.
18-month exit programme
Practice Exit Accelerator
£650/mo + 1% success fee capped at £10k, or £1,500 one-off Exit Readiness Audit
For
Owners 12-36 months from selling who want to lift the offer they receive and run the sale on their own timeline.
What it is
A structured 18-month exit programme led by your accountants, not a broker. EBITDA work, owner-add-back clean-up, governance and risk prep, a buyer-ready financial pack, sale-side advisory. Or the standalone Exit Readiness Audit at £1,500 if you want a one-off look first.
Why it exists
Most UK dental owners sell unprepared and leave material money on the table. The Accelerator is the prep work that closes that gap before the sale runs.
Pricing is on every product page. We don’t hide fees behind “request a quote” forms. Each product page lists the engagement shape and the price band. The free 30-minute consultation is for working out which product fits, not for revealing a hidden number.
Four types of dental owner, four entry points
Most owners who land on this page are at one of four stages. Each stage tends to start on a different product.
Independent owners (1-3 sites)
You own one practice or a small group. You’re profitable but the curve has flattened. You’re not sure whether the right next move is a fee increase, a refinance, an acquisition, a tax restructure or something else. You want one good conversation about it, not a monthly bill.
Start with: the Growth Strategy Session – £500 + VAT, 60 minutes with Arun, four areas of your business reviewed in advance, written follow-up. If the session points at work that earns its keep on a monthly basis, Tier 2 Foundation Advisory is the natural next step.
Active group builders (2-5 sites)
You’ve moved from one practice into a small group. The accountancy work has multiplied, you’re thinking about cash flow most months, and the next acquisition is being looked at. You want financial leadership that grows with you rather than clean books filed three months late.
Start with: Tier 2 or Tier 3 of Growth Advisory – £1,500-£3,500/mo + VAT. Monthly accounts review, quarterly CFO meeting, acquisition modelling, debt structuring. Specialist work – Fee Review, Buying Group membership, Cash Flow Forecasting – layered in where it earns its keep.
Group builders and DSOs (5-30 sites, often PE-backed)
You’re running 5-30 sites or you’ve got PE on the cap table. The conversations are about acquisitions, debt structure, group reporting, KPIs across sites, normalised EBITDA, and capital events. You need a financial leadership relationship that runs every month, plus discrete builds when the institutional infrastructure has to step up.
Start with: Tier 3 or Tier 4 of Growth Advisory for the ongoing relationship. A Financial Infrastructure build for the one-off project that gets the group’s reporting and KPIs to investor-grade. Bespoke AI on samera.ai when the data and dashboard layer needs to match the size of the operation.
Owners 12-36 months from selling
You’re not selling next week, but you can see it from here. You want the practice in the right shape to attract a higher offer. You want to run the sale on your timeline rather than someone else’s, and you want the prep done by your accountants, not handed off to a broker the year before completion.
Start with: the Practice Exit Accelerator – 18-month programme led by your accountants. Or the Exit Readiness Audit (£1,500) if you want a one-off look first.
Not sure which one fits? Book the free 30-minute consultation. It’s a scoping call, not a sales call – we’ll tell you which product (if any) is the right starting point, and if the honest answer is “none of them yet” you’ll hear that too.
Six specialist services that pair with growth advisory engagements
Beyond the four primary products, six specialist services come up repeatedly inside growth advisory engagements. Each has its own canonical page. Tier 1 advisory clients often use these on an ad-hoc basis; Tier 2-4 clients commonly have one or more layered into their monthly engagement.
One engagement, the right specialist at the right time. You don’t buy each of these separately and stitch them together yourself. Inside a retainer, Arun, Natasha and the specialist team pull the right work in when it earns its keep. A Tier 2 client this quarter might be on Fee Review work; next quarter, tax structure around an acquisition.
Three capabilities on Samera’s sister sites
Three things sit on Samera group sister sites rather than on samera.co.uk. They pair often with Tier 3-4 Growth Advisory and Financial Infrastructure work but they’re separate products with their own commercial terms.
Bespoke AI (samera.ai)
Custom dashboards, automation and software built around how your group actually runs. The data and visibility layer that surfaces what the FI build defines. Lives on samera.ai as the enterprise tier of the AI product family. Visit samera.ai/bespoke.
Hire offshore accountants (sameraglobal.com)
UK-trained accountants embedded inside your in-house team. The right answer for groups large enough to need offshore capacity but not yet ready to set up their own entity. Visit sameraglobal.com.
GCC setup (sameraglobal.com)
Your own 100%-owned India entity – your brand, your control, your team. For groups ready to build a dedicated offshore operation rather than embed individuals. Visit sameraglobal.com.
Partner offerings, not retainer add-ons. Tier 4 retainer clients often engage one or more of these. They’re priced and delivered separately – the retainer doesn’t include them and they don’t include the retainer. The Growth Advisory team coordinates the relationships so you’re not running three vendor conversations.
Four pillars Samera works through with groups at scale
When working with groups at 10+ sites, Samera works through four pillars. It’s a way of describing what the work covers, not a product range. Two pillars have full product pages on this site; two don’t, because the work in those areas gets done inside retainer engagements rather than as standalone products.
Pillar 01 – Clinical and operating excellence
Standardised clinical governance, KPI-led performance across sites, operational discipline at scale. No standalone product page – this work happens inside Tier 4 Advisory engagements where the operational layer of the group is getting more disciplined.
Pillar 02 – Financial infrastructure and capital strategy
The product is the Financial Infrastructure build – reporting blueprint, KPI architecture, normalised EBITDA framework, month-end close, forecast modelling, due diligence prep, dashboard requirements. Pillar 02 is where Samera does its heaviest institutional work.
Pillar 03 – Digital, data and visibility
The product is Bespoke AI on samera.ai – custom dashboards, automation, software for groups. Pillar 03 sits alongside Pillar 02: the FI build defines what should be measured; Bespoke AI builds the layer that lets you see it day to day.
Pillar 04 – Leadership, succession and exit readiness
The execution product is the Practice Exit Accelerator. Beyond that, Pillar 04 lives inside Tier 4 Advisory engagements where succession or governance work is being done years before exit.
The people leading growth work at Samera
CEO, Samera
CEO, Samera. Dental practice owner since 2008, co-founder of the Neem Tree Dental Group. Former Vice President at Bank of America. Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). Leads every Tier 3 and Tier 4 advisory engagement, every Financial Infrastructure build, and every Exit Planning programme. Runs the Growth Strategy Sessions himself.
Arun has 25+ years in accountancy and 17+ years operating dental practices. The advisory work Samera does is not academic – it’s how he’s built, run and partially exited his own group.
Accountancy Senior Manager
Leads Tier 2 Foundation Advisory delivery and runs the accounts work on Tier 3-4 retainer engagements. Heads the team behind monthly accounts reviews, quarterly tax planning and statutory work. At Samera since 2014.
Natasha is the link between the advisory work Arun leads and the accountancy that runs underneath every retainer.
Director, Samera Finance
FCA-authorised commercial finance broker. Leads acquisition financing, debt structuring and refinancing on Tier 3 and Tier 4 engagements where the conversation includes how the deal gets funded. 15+ years in commercial finance, dental-specialist since joining Samera.
Uros’s job across the growth cluster is to make sure the lender, the bank and the deal structure sit inside the advisory conversation rather than getting handled in a separate room.
Wider team
Karyn Mehra (Practice Director and Neem Tree co-founder, strategic input on operational governance), Aditi Singh (senior accountant, Tier 3-4 delivery), plus the broader Samera accounts, tax and finance teams.
Six Samera growth-cluster clients on the work
An excellent and unique course.. Over two days, the experienced, knowledgeable and approachable Samera team presented a comprehensive overview of group dentistry – from marketing and growth at practice level, to structure and exit at group level. The all-encompassing team were able to advise candidly on all aspects of this journey. Would highly recommend!
AJ – 5 Stars
Been with Samera since 2008 when we bought our first dental practice, their knowledge and expertise is second to none not least because they also own their own dental practices, putting them in a unique position in terms of their knowledge and advice for the Dental Industry. Whether you’re setting up from scratch or acquiring an existing practice, Samera have been there to offer advice on raising finance, staff and team issues, tax knowledge, leadership and having a strong vision, marketing, getting into purchasing groups and also purchasing equipment.
Saijel Kachhala – 5 Stars
Arun Mehra and his friendly team helped and advised me in all matters of accountancy, raising finance, payroll, furlough support and general business advice. The whole teams collective vast experience and knowledge in all business matters and dentistry is invaluable when you are running any type or size of business.
Antimos Ouzounoglou – 5 Stars
Huge thanks to Natasha, Aditi, Arun, Karyn, and the entire Samera team for their outstanding support and guidance. Their professionalism, responsiveness, and deep expertise is a great support for our business. I truly felt supported every step of the way. Highly recommended!
Rajvansh Juneja – 5 Stars
Arun, Natasha and all the team at Samera have provided outstanding service to me over a number of years – they are experts and are friendly and easy to deal with – would thoroughly recommend.
Peter Grimes – 5 Stars
Samera have been my accountant for 7 years and have continued to provide me with accurate accounts and timely submissions. Their digital workflow eases the management of receipts and filing. I have found them to be supportive and knowledgeable particularly during the recent crisis.
Patrick Abbott – 5 Stars
Common questions about Samera growth advisory work
I’m not sure which of the four products fits my situation. How do I figure that out?
Book the free 30-minute consultation. Arun will ask about your scale, what you’re trying to achieve, and where you currently feel stuck, and tell you which product (if any) is the right starting point. Most owners with 1-3 sites start with the Growth Strategy Session. Most multi-site groups start at Tier 2 or Tier 3 of Growth Advisory. Institutional groups commissioning a discrete build start with the Financial Infrastructure project. Owners 12-36 months from selling start with Exit Planning or the Exit Readiness Audit.
Do I have to use Samera as my accountant to engage in growth advisory?
Tier 1 (the Growth Strategy Session and ad-hoc specialist work) doesn’t require Samera to manage your accounts. Tiers 2, 3 and 4 of the Growth Advisory retainer do – we need to be looking at the numbers regularly to deliver the advisory work, and that requires us managing the accountancy. This is a quality requirement, not a commercial one. The Financial Infrastructure build and Exit Planning programmes also work best when Samera is the accountant but can be run alongside another firm for the build duration if the timing makes that necessary.
Can I move between products as my situation changes?
Yes – and this is how most engagements actually run. A Tier 1 client (£500 GSS plus ad-hoc work) often moves into Tier 2 Foundation Advisory after 6-12 months. A Tier 3 group will sometimes commission a Financial Infrastructure build alongside the retainer when a capital event is approaching. A Tier 3 or Tier 4 client moves into Exit Planning 18-24 months before sale. The products are built to fit together. You don’t start over each time.
What’s the difference between the Growth Strategy Session and a free 30-minute consultation?
The free 30-minute consultation is scoping – we’re working out what you need and whether Samera is the right firm to deliver it. No analysis, no recommendations. The Growth Strategy Session is paid work – £500 + VAT for a 60-minute session, four-area review of your business in advance, written follow-up. The GSS is the diagnostic; the consultation is the scoping call before either side commits to anything.
How does the Financial Infrastructure build relate to the Growth Advisory retainer?
They’re separate products. You can buy the FI build without a retainer – some institutional groups do this when they have existing financial leadership in-house but need a discrete project to bring their reporting and KPI architecture to investor-grade. More commonly, FI runs alongside a Tier 3 or Tier 4 retainer because the retainer is the ongoing relationship that uses what FI delivers. The pricing is independent: the retainer is monthly, the FI build is project-priced.
I’m a single-practice owner. Is the four-pillar framework relevant to me?
Not really. The four-pillar framework is built for institutional groups at 10+ sites. As a single-practice owner the right starting point is the Growth Strategy Session, and the work usually focuses on two or three concrete questions – fee structure, cost base, debt position, tax structure – rather than an institutional framework. We say so because dressing up single-practice advisory as “Pillar 02 work” would be marketing dressed up as substance.
What if I just want one of the specialist services – a Fee Review or Tax Planning work?
That’s a Tier 1 engagement and you don’t need to buy the whole retainer to access it. Specialist services have their own pricing and can be engaged standalone. The retainer adds value when you want a financial leadership rhythm rather than a one-off intervention, but if a Fee Review on its own is what you need, that’s what you should buy.
How does the Exit Planning programme interact with selling through Samera?
The Practice Exit Accelerator is the 18-month preparation work. Selling through Samera (via the Sell a Dental Practice hub) is the sale execution itself. Some owners do both – they engage the Accelerator 18 months before sale, then engage Samera as sales agent when they’re ready to go to market. Others engage one or the other. The fee structures interact (and there’s an open commercial question on how the 1% success fee and the 2.5% sales commission combine in that scenario – we’re explicit about that on the Exit Planning page).
Who at Samera will I actually work with?
Tier 1 (GSS plus ad-hoc): Arun for the GSS, the specialist team for individual interventions. Tier 2: Natasha-led, with quarterly access to Arun. Tier 3: Arun for the monthly board meeting, Natasha and the accounts team for delivery, Uros where finance brokerage is involved. Tier 4: Arun on every call and available between, plus the wider team. Financial Infrastructure build: Arun leads, supported by the UK + India delivery team. Exit Planning: Arun leads, Natasha supports on EBITDA and risk work in stages 2-3.
Other ways Samera supports dental practice owners
Dental accountants
The full Samera dental accountancy service – day-to-day management accounts, statutory accounts, corporation tax, VAT, personal tax. The operational layer underneath every growth advisory engagement at Tier 2 and above.
Accounts for dental groups
Specialist multi-entity group accountancy – holding companies, individual practice entities, management services companies. The structural layer that supports group-building.
Dental practice finance broker
FCA-authorised commercial finance brokerage – acquisition finance, refinancing, asset finance, property finance, tax and VAT loans. Free apart from squat fit-out loans. £100m+ raised for UK dentists since 2004.
Buy a dental practice
The buy-side hub – acquisition strategy, financial due diligence, deal structuring, completion. Particularly relevant for Tier 2 and Tier 3 advisory clients in active acquisition mode.
Sell a dental practice
Sale-side execution – valuation, sales agency at 2.5% commission, sale process management. The execution pair to the Practice Exit Accelerator’s preparation work.
AI for dental practices
Productised AI for dental practice operations. Associate Pay automation live, others in build. Bespoke enterprise builds for groups.