Quentin Skinner

Chairman

Quentin Skinner is chairman of DPAS, the company he founded in 1996 with the aim of offering dentists an alternative, cost-effective payment plan service which would allow them to keep their own identity.

Quentin, a leading player in the establishment of private dental plans in the UK, is passionately committed to helping dentists understand the dental industry’s turbulent political and economic climate with all the issues and challenges that lie ahead and the future management of practices.

Richard George

C.E.O.

Richard George joined DPAS in 2006 as Finance and IT Director and was appointed Chief Executive in 2007.

Richard qualified as a chartered accountant and corporate treasurer with Price Waterhouse and went on to specialise in finance and strategic IT. He is enjoying working with a broad based team developing new services for dentists and extending the delivery capability of DPAS ahead of potential new demand for dental plans when the current NHS contracts expire in 2009.

Andrew Warren

Sales and Marketing Director

Andrew Warren probably has more hands on experience in converting dental practices to private plans than anyone else in the industry and he has played a leading role in the growth of the UK’s private dental plan sector.
He joined Quentin Skinner and DPAS in 1997. Since then he has been instrumental in helping to lead DPAS on its mission to support dental practices and provide dentists with their own independent, practice branded payment plan services.

A former dental technician who has been involved in private dentistry for over 40 years, Andrew has a deep understanding of the challenges that now face others in the profession in these unsettled times. He was part of the original team that set up dental plans over two decades ago.

Gary Anders

Operations Director

Since joining the company in November 2006, Gary has been instrumental in overhauling and fine tuning the business processes, practices and procedures to support the ever-increasing number of dentists now choosing DPAS dental plans.

Gary has a distinguished track record in the insurance industry, with more than 33 years’ experience in underwriting and product development for the global insurance giant ACE Group.

He has been the architect of many pioneering initiatives, using innovative technology to deliver insurance products to both large corporations and smaller businesses.

Drawing on his experience, Gary is expert at guiding dentists through the challenges they face when running a small business.

Gary is a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute (FCII), the premier qualification for those working in the insurance industry.

Stephen Noar

Non-executive Director

Stephen qualified as a dentist over 20 years before becoming one of the founding directors of Denplan in 1987.

Having developed the original concept of private capitation schemes and dental plans in the UK, Stephen is widely respected and brings an incomparable knowledge to DPAS.

Lindy Darmanin

Fulfillment Director

Lindy has worked in the private dental health sector for over 10 years, during which time she has acquired a wealth of experience in the design and development of dental plans, specifically those with a dental insurance element.

Following that, she spent over three years setting up and running an insurance company designed specifically for mobility customers.

With over 20 years experience in the customer services sector Lindy brings an expertise which will ensure DPAS continue to offer the outstanding level of service which has come to be expected by the practices for who they administer dental plans.

Kevin Coyle

Marketing Manager

After qualifying in London, Kevin Coyle began his marketing career in the fmcg sector in Ireland before progression to worldwide marketing within the sector. Following a move to the financial services and insurance industry, he helped launch what has become one of the largest aviation insurance brokers in the U.K.

Kevin joined DPAS in the summer of 2007 and sees the role which the company plays within the dental industry as a hugely exciting one at a time of such change and feels the contribution DPAS can make to practices, through the option of practice branding, is a vital one. The focus of the marketing department within DPAS is offering a first class service to practices by identifying needs and striving to surpass all expectations.

Margaret Holmes

Fees and Insurance Manager

Margaret Holmes has worked for DPAS for more than 10 years, seeing the company grow from a fledgling business to the dynamic operation it is today. Having held a number of positions over that time, Margaret is now a key member of the management team with a wealth of experience to deploy across the business. Margaret is currently Fees & Insurance Manager with responsibility for FSA compliance.

The Fee Review Team assists practices to carry out an annual fee review and is also responsible for the all important process of communicating changes in Dental Plan fees to individual patients on behalf of the practice.

As manager of the Insurance Team, Margaret ensures that all claims are dealt with promptly and fairly within the terms and conditions of the policy. She encourages her team to make sure that claimants fully understand how the benefits available under the Supplementary Insurance apply to their individual claim. By ensuring that DPAS operates in a compliant manner, Margaret is helping to turn DPAS into a much more customer-oriented organisation.

Vikki Neale

H.R. Manager

Vikki joined DPAS in August 2005 with a Financial Services background. She was promoted to HR Manager in June 2006 at a time when DPAS was undergoing a huge growth surge and the need for an increasing number of staff was obvious.

One of the many challenges since then has been the ongoing recruitment of high quality staff for all key business functions, such as Customer Services, IT, Finance, Insurance, Sales, Marketing and Fulfilment.

“Multi-skilling” is a very important part of the training and development programme, designed to ensure that DPAS staff have the interchangeable skills and capabilities necessary to maintain the high levels of service that practices supported by DPAS have come to expect.

Vikki’s aim is to create a working environment at Place Farm that is highly professional and productive yet stimulating, enjoyable and rewarding for staff. If a low staff turnover and an increasing number of new recruits through personal recommendation are any indicators of success, then DPAS is heading in the right direction.

Jo Mooney

Customer Service Manager

Jo began her career with DPAS in November 2003 having spent many years in retail management. Dealing with members of the public “face to face” allowed Jo to hone her customer service and relationship management skills.

Jo became head of department in 2006 and two years later was further promoted to her current position as DPAS Customer Services Manager. Throughout a period of substantial growth since Spring 2006, Jo has been the key driver of a number of initiatives designed to deliver an industry leading standard in customer service from DPAS.

As the number of client practices has grown, so has the number of staff within the Customer Service Department. The team is organised so that each practice benefits from a lead Customer Service Advisor, who in turn is supported by both a shadow Customer Service Advisor and an Administrator. This means there will always be someone able to help the practice when required.

Jo recognises the need for efficiency, accuracy and quality in the way the team operates, but she also believes a warm, friendly and helpful approach can make all the difference to practice customers. “It’s not always what you do, but how you do it that always matters” says Jo.