John Poynton’s Prime Heath Group is embarking on an aggressive expansion across Australia and overseas as the investment banker seeks to capitalise on growing demand for corporate health and training services.
Prime Health recently opened an office in New Zealand and will open a business in Dubai next month.
It will also open its first regional office in Bunbury next month, taking the number of offices it operates in WA to seven.
Chief executive Greg Hutchison said he also held ambitions to open offices in Singapore and India.
For now, though, Mr Hutchison is concentrating on growing the business in Australia, New Zealand and Dubai.
Mr Hutchison took on the job as chief executive following the sale of his business, Advance Physiotherapy Services, to Mr Poynton on July 2.
Mr Hutchison said Prime was enjoying growing demand from the corporate sector for injury management, preventative health strategies, training as well as contracting skilled personnel such as doctors and nurses.
Mr Hutchison said there was the potential to open a further nine offices throughout New Zealand within five years. He said New Zealand’s corporate market was beginning to also want an integrated approach to managing the health of their staff.
A similar situation is unfolding in Dubai, with a growing community of ex-pats increasing the demand for services. “There is so much construction going on over there and they have an understanding that they have to do something better.”
But, Mr Hutchison said the biggest growth area for its Dubai business, which is named PHG, would be in delivering skilled personnel such as paramedics who can work on construction sites to stabilise injured employees on site.
“It can take about an hour to get an ambulance on site because of the traffic,” Mr Hutchison said.
He said Dubai was “a punt” because the market was still in its infancy.
Mr Hutchison said Prime’s move into Bunbury next month was the first of a series of regional centres the group planned to open this financial year. It also plans to open offices on the east-coast.
Mr Poynton has steadily grown Prime since he bought the business in 2004. He acquired training provider Heath Safety Training in 2005 and personnel supply business RMS last year.
