The Clinics Earning Six Figures More Aren't Spending More on Marketing, They Just Know Their Numbers

HMDG's 2026 survey of over 700 UK clinic owners found that most haven't the faintest idea what it costs them to win a new patient, and the ones who do are considerably better off for it. This includes practices like yours.

Page updated: 13 Aug 2026

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Clinics that can't put a figure on their cost per new patient tend to earn markedly less than those who can, and most clinics fall firmly into that camp.

Original Research	Most UK clinic owners have no idea what a new patient costs them, and their turnover reflects it
Source	https://hmdg.co.uk/private-practice-barometer/physiotherapy-cac-cost-per-acquisition-uk-2026/
Overview	HMDG surveyed 715 UK private clinic owners for its 2026 Private Practice Barometer, benchmarking patient acquisition costs against business performance.
Year	2026
Publisher	Brand, HMDG
Relevance to Wellbeing	This is a UK-specific benchmark built entirely from clinic owners, so it speaks directly to Clinical Practices rather than wellbeing generally.
Our Verdict	Too early to tell one figure, tracked properly, appears to be worth more than most marketing spend put together.
Our Summary	Only about a quarter of clinic owners know their cost per acquisition, which means knowing yours already puts you ahead of most of the sector. The gap between those who track it and those who don't is measured in six figures a year, not loose change. It's self-reported by clinic owners, so the numbers rely on people being honest about their own turnover. There's no breakdown by clinic size or location, so a solo physio and a ten-therapist centre are lumped together.
Our Geo View	UK-specific data; the £25 median acquisition cost and £127,500 revenue gap are UK figures and won't transfer neatly to other markets.

Abstract of wellbeing niches and revenue flow

Recognise how this might impact your practice

Why this might matter to you

Coaching: this matters because if a physio clinic can lose six figures by not tracking one number, a one-person coaching practice can lose the equivalent of a very nice holiday.
Therapy: this matters because therapists tend to hate anything that smells like a spreadsheet, and this is the spreadsheet that apparently pays for itself.
Training: this matters because trainers often run on word of mouth and hope, and hope doesn't show up in a cost-per-acquisition column.
Alternative Healing: this matters because healers are often the least likely to track anything financial, which this data suggests is an expensive habit.
Clinical: this matters because the survey is literally about clinics, so this one applies directly, no translation required.
Retreat/Centre: this matters because centres with higher overheads and more moving parts have even more to lose by not knowing what a booking actually costs.

Where this came from

HMDG asked over seven hundred UK clinic owners what they spend to win a patient, and found most simply don't know.

UK Private Practice Barometer 2026, published by HMDG. Full source, not paywalled.

Methodology: survey-based, 715 respondents, self-reported financial figures. Sample size disclosed. Publisher type: brand-run industry benchmark, not peer-reviewed.

How we scored this

A relevance score out of 100, built from three things: how well it fits the six practice types, how recent it is, and how solid the methodology behind it is.

93%

Practice fit, 100How new, 100How solid, 75

Marked down slightly on how solid the method is, since it's self-reported and brand-published rather than independently verified, but scored well on practice fit and recency given it's a fresh, UK clinic-specific dataset.

It's worth considering changes to your marketing practices

What this means for your marketing

Work out your own cost per new patient this week, even roughly, before you spend another penny on ads.
Put the £25 median CAC figure in front of your team so everyone knows what "normal" looks like.
Say the number out loud in your next planning meeting, before someone asks and nobody can answer.
Brief whoever runs your booking system to start tagging where each new patient actually came from.
Stop increasing ad spend until you know what you're currently paying per patient, not after.

Who this is most useful for

Practice type	Relevance	Recommended action
Coaching	Medium	Adapt the same tracking habit to your own booking volume.
Therapy	Medium	Start with a simple spreadsheet of enquiry sources.
Training	Medium	Track cost per new client the same way, even for referral-heavy business.
Alternative Healing	Medium	Use it as a reason to finally track marketing spend properly.
Clinical Practices	High	Calculate your own CAC and compare it against the £25 median directly.
Retreats/Centres	High	Apply the same tracking across every intake channel, not just one.

Best before

Best before: revisit when HMDG releases its next annual Private Practice Barometer, or sooner if you want to check your own numbers against the primary source at HMDG.

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