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I'm about to make the long awaited leap off faith & purchase an established private practice. Fee's have been agreed as well as included equipment. I was going to seek support from a solicitor so the building lease, equipment will all be legally handed over to me.
However I have spoken to several colleagues who have either sold or bought practices & they had little more than a note stating what was included, including a list of equipment & a condition that the selling podiatrist would not practice within a set distance and a set time period.
How would this stand in the court of law?
Is a solicitor really necessary & if so how much are their services likely to be?
Thus far I've been quoted between £500 & £1500! (bit of a difference!)

All advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

Hello Kevans,
If you are an SCP member there is a wealth of information on this subject in the Members section of the website, including a PP handbook available on-line for download. I would suggest you also contact your local SCP Branch or IPP group for support and advice.
Good Luck!
Dido

 

Hi Kevans,

I'm no legal expert but a tale of caution.

Colleagues of mine bought a thriving practice (for a very large sum of money)from another Pod' who was leaving Pod' for a time to concentrate on family.

Agreement was similar to the one you mentioned. Premises, equipment etc. (including existing patients) & the promise not to return to practice within the area.

Short time later the 'vendor' started phoning existing clients stating that they had recommenced a dom. round in the area if they wished to book an appt. !

There is now news that the same Pod. is seeking premises less than 2 miles from the locality of the previous sale.

Legal? Unsure. :deadhorse:
Good business? Not IMO :craig:
Professional suicide (Personally, I bloody hope so)! :sinking:

I think legal advice is a must but again only my opinion.

Good luck in your venture. :drinks

 

I've read this quote which was posted by another member, if this is true then is it really worth spending potentially several hundred pounds for a piece of paper that will not be of great value if the contract of practicing in the area is broken?

Thanks dido, I've already seen the handbook from the SCP but unless I've missed a few pages it does not make much reference for purchasing an existing practice?

 

Yes, get a lawyer to draft an agreement. Make sure the agreement states clearly what you are purchasing and also the terms and conditions of the contract. Before signing the contract you can always get a disinterested third party to read it.

 

Thanks dido, I've already seen the handbook from the SCP but unless I've missed a few pages it does not make much reference for purchasing an existing practice?


hi kevans,

see if you can get a hold of Kevin Hill who was the Private Practice Officer at SCP and wrote the handbook, he has a whole lot of experience and speaks a lot of sense.

again go on the private members site and have a look through it.

try buying the practice in regular agreed instalments rather than pay up front for something that might be too good to be true. also this should prevent the seller from returning back to work in your localitiy as restraints of trade are hard to enforce.

another way around the problem and save you some cash is for you to set up from scratch in the locality. dont rely of SCP to sort anything out if it all goes wrong as they will sit on the fence and not get involved.