Bupa has hired former Denplan managing director Steve Gates to spearhead the development of its dental and cash plan businesses in the UK.
Gates has been given the newly created role of director of dental insurance and cash plan and will be working with Bupa Dental Care, Bupa’s dental practice business.
Gates stepped down from his role at Denplan, where he was managing director for the last sixteen years, in January. He was responsible for the organisation’s range of consumer and corporate dental insurance plans. He was also a member of the executive leadership team at Simplyhealth, following its acquisition of Denplan in 2013.
Gates will join Bupa’s UK insurance leadership team and is joining just after Bupa’s recent acquisition of Oasis Dental Care. Bupa now has over 420 dental practices, serving 2m customers.
Gates says: “It’s an exciting time to be joining the UK’s largest health insurer. I’ll be working closely with the wider insurance team to build on Bupa’s existing dental and cash plan propositions and capitalise on opportunities across the market.”
Bupa UK Insurance CEO Alex Perry says: “I’m delighted that Steve is joining us. His deep knowledge and experience in dental insurance and membership plans will be invaluable as we seek to build on an already strong market position in dental insurance, and make the most of our new dental provision business. We see big opportunities ahead in dental care and it’s great that we have someone of Steve’s talents to help us realise them.”