Three in four UK private clinics reportedly raised their prices this year, though the source is a bit of a mystery.

A 2025 report on small business Britain repeats a claim that most UK private clinics raised their prices in the last year, though where the number originally came from is anyone's guess. This includes practices like yours.

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Clinics wondering whether they're behind on pricing might take comfort, or alarm, from a figure that nobody involved seems willing to put their name to.

Original ResearchA claim that most UK private clinics put their prices up in 2025, with a typical rise of around 6 per cent
Sourcehttps://www.enterpriseresearch.ac.uk/our-work/publications/
OverviewThe Enterprise Research Centre's State of Small Business Britain 2025 report covers wider small business trends and, in passing, cites a pricing figure credited to something called the HMDG Barometer.
Year2025
PublisherAcademic, Enterprise Research Centre (citing an unnamed HMDG Barometer)
Relevance to WellbeingIf accurate, it suggests clinical practices have largely already moved on pricing, but the figure is one report quoting another without showing its working.
Our VerdictToo early to tell The number keeps turning up in respectable-looking places, but nobody has yet shown their working.
Our Summary
  • If true, it means most private clinics have already tested a price rise and lived to tell the tale.
  • The 73.5 per cent figure has no named source beyond one report citing another, so it's closer to gossip with a percentage sign.
  • A median rise of 6 per cent gives you a rough number to think against, however shaky its foundations.
  • The ERC report doesn't appear to have run its own pricing survey, it seems to be repeating someone else's homework.
Our Geo ViewSpecific to the UK private clinic market; pricing pressures and norms differ elsewhere, so don't borrow this figure for overseas comparisons.
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 clinics down the road are raising fees and getting away with it, a coach who hasn't touched their rates since 2019 starts looking like a bargain, not a value proposition.
  • Therapy: this matters because clients are already hearing about fee rises everywhere else, so a quiet increase of your own won't come as a shock.
  • Training: this matters because course providers can use the 6 per cent figure as a rough benchmark, so long as they remember how wobbly its foundations are.
  • Alternative Healing: this matters because healers pricing against clinical competitors need some sense of where the market's heading, even secondhand.
  • Clinical: this matters because clinics are precisely who the claim is about, which makes ignoring it feel riskier than repeating it carefully.
  • Retreat/Centre: this matters because centres bundling several practitioners' fees together are especially exposed if the wider market has quietly moved without them.

Where this came from

A claim tucked inside a 2025 report on small business Britain, stating that most UK private clinics put their prices up, sourced supposedly from something called the HMDG Barometer.

Enterprise Research Centre, State of Small Business Britain 2025 report, published 2025. The pricing figure itself is secondhand, credited to a barometer that isn't named, linked, or explained anywhere on the page.

Credibility flags: methodology not disclosed. Sample size not disclosed. Publisher type is a legitimate academic research centre, but the specific stat is an unattributed claim borrowed wholesale from elsewhere.

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.

70%
Practice fit, 100How new, 100How solid, 0

It scores well on fitting your kind of practice and on being current, but gets marked right down to zero on how solid the method is, since nobody involved will say where the number actually came from.

Faces of satisfied clients
It's worth considering changes to your marketing practices

What this means for your marketing

  • Mention a modest price review is coming, before clients ask why everyone else has already moved.
  • Say plainly that the 73.5 per cent figure is doing the rounds, not gospel, if a client raises it.
  • Brief reception staff on answering "why did the price change" without leaning on a mystery barometer.
  • Put your own reasoning next to any fee change, rather than borrowing someone else's unverified stat.
  • Hold off quoting the 73.5 per cent figure in your own marketing until the original source turns up.

Who this is most useful for

Practice typeRelevanceRecommended action
CoachingMediumUse as loose context only, not as proof, before any price change.
TherapyMediumMention gently if a client questions a fee rise.
TrainingLowTreat as background noise, not planning material.
Alternative HealingLowSkip citing it directly, focus on your own value story instead.
ClinicalHighWatch for the actual HMDG source before repeating the figure publicly.
Retreat/CentreMediumFactor into fee strategy discussions, cautiously and with a pinch of salt.

Best before

Best before: revisit once the HMDG Barometer surfaces somewhere citable, or when the Enterprise Research Centre publishes its 2026 edition, whichever happens first.

What next?

There's a particular kind of worry in wondering if you're the last clinic on the street who hasn't put their prices up, especially when nobody can quite say who worked that figure out in the first place.

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