Meet the Team

The ADG Team

Neil Carmichael

Executive Chair

Neil Carmichael is Executive Chair of the Association of Dental Groups (ADG) and Chief Executive Officer of UK China Education Cooperation (UCEC). He is an Honorary Professor, University College London, with a focus on education through the Institute of Education and the Global Business School for Healthcare.

Neil is also Honorary Professor for Education Policy, University of Nottingham (School of Education).

Neil is a Trustee of the Sir Edward Heath Charitable Foundation and currently leads the Trust’s Edward Heath University Lecture Series.

Neil was Member of Parliament for Stroud (2010-17), serving on the Education Select Committee and the Environment Audit Committee, and elected chair of the Education Select Committee in 2015. He set up the All-Parliamentary Party Group on School Leadership and Governance and took the Antarctic Act 2013 through Parliament. Neil was a member of the Royal Society’s Science Policy Expert Advisory Committee for six years from 2019.

He served as Chair of the Conservative Group for Europe, spent two years advising and supporting parliamentarians in Myanmar, served as a governor of several schools and colleges, and chaired the Pearson UK Commission on Sustainable Learning for Work, Life, and a Changing Economy.

In his spare time, Neil farms in Northumberland with a special focus on protecting and promoting the local milieu.

Ruth Chesmore

operational director

Ruth is Director of Operational Affairs focusing on areas including NHS contract reform and commissioning and self-employed matters across all 4 UK nations as well as contributing to the overall activities of the ADG.

Ruth is also a member of the Bupa Dental Care Executive team where she is responsible for NHS and Commissioning strategy. Ruth has 10+ years’ experience in dentistry including Operations, M&A, Portfolio Management and Transformation and has an MBA from Manchester Business School. Prior to dentistry, Ruth worked in various management and leadership roles within the wider Bupa insurance business.

ian gordon

special adviser

Ian has been a Member of ADG since 2012 with the Group Ian co-founded (Alpha Dental). He was a Member of the ADG Board from 2014 to 2021. He is currently a Special Advisor to Neil Carmichael, attending Board meetings and also Member meetings in his capacity as Dental Director of Riverdale Healthcare, one of the ADG member companies.

Ian qualified as a dentist in 1984 and still practices one day a week in North Yorkshire. His role with Riverdale is as a Board and Exec team member with a lead responsibility for NHS dentistry and Commissioning but acting as a conduit between the clinical finance and operational teams in the business. He is Chair of North Yorkshire Local Dental Committee and a part time Dento-legal advisor for Densura.

KATE CLARK

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS & MEMBERSHIP

Kate Clark, Director of Communications & Membership. Kate is a senior communications professional with over 25 years’ experience in health and wellbeing PR. Kate has a particular specialist interest in dentistry comms with other local and national groups on her client roster. Kate’s remit is to promote the views of the ADG and its members to all relevant audiences through media outreach and social media.

John Bramley

Head of Finance

John is Head of Finance for the Association of Dental Groups (ADG) and Chief Financial Officer for South Cliff Dental Group Ltd. With over two decades of experience in senior finance roles, John has led high-performing teams across multiple sectors, specialising in high-growth, private equity-backed businesses in the healthcare and service industries.

Before joining the ADG, John was Group Financial Controller at Riverdale Healthcare and Pacifica Group, steering both organisations through significant expansion, acquisitions, and complex refinancing. A Chartered Management Accountant (ACMA, CGMA), John combines strategic leadership with hands-on commercial focus to deliver sustainable growth.

Catherine Rutland

Director of Policy & Research

Catherine is an experienced dental and public affairs leader. After graduating in dentistry from Leeds University in 1992, she worked in hospital roles before moving into general dental practice. She joint owned a practice for almost 20 years. She began work for Simplyhealth/Denplan in 2010 where she worked for 15 years, the last 6 years as Clinical Director.

Catherine holds a Master’s in Medical Ethics and Law from King’s College London and is a Level 7 Certified Leadership Mentor and Coach.

Catherine took on a part-time role with The Association of Dental Groups in early 2024 as Director of Policy and Research, which she continues to this day. She became Head of Policy for Dentaid The Dental Charity in July 2025, advocating for improved access to dental care for vulnerable communities.

Pip Dhariwal

Ambassador for International Dentistry

Pip Dhariwal is the CEO of Smile Dentalcare which has practices primarily across the South and South West of England. He is currently the Berkshire Local Dental Committee (LDC) Chair and has sat on the boards of many other NHS and dental organisations, and has excellent understanding of how dental commissioning decisions are made and implemented.

Pip believes that the biggest issue facing dentistry is the workforce recruitment crisis and in the need for participating and working with different stakeholders in the dental profession to resolve this. He is a Trustee of the International Dentist Organisation which supports overseas dentists and other members of the dental team planning to settle in the UK.

Outside of the profession he is a Trustee of the Great Expectations Foundation, a charity that supports and develops education and healthcare for children in Tanzania.

Laura Barley

Head of Administration

Laura has a degree in business and a varied career, with a constant strong backbone of administration throughout. Laura went from working in an office in the recruitment industry to being a Police Officer in Glasgow.

Latterly, Laura worked in an intelligence department, where she assessed and disseminated intelligence to relevant internal and external partners and strengthened intelligence through research. After leaving the police force, and prior to embracing this role, Laura was a Project Coordinator. She joined the ADG in October 2022.