A private healthcare firm will open a £13.5m six-floor women’s centre on Harley Street in autumn this year in another sign that the industry is booming in the UK.
The 13,000 sq ft building will offer private GP services with doctors who specialise in women’s healthcare.
It is the latest expansion for HCA Healthcare UK, a UK-based arm of the American healthcare company, which has been operational in the UK since 1995.
It also operates a three-floor centre in The Shard, as well as a private patients’ facility at Guys & St Thomas’.
World-famous Harley Street has a long history of women’s healthcare: Florence Nightingale moved to the street in 1852 to become superintendent of a women’s nursing home, with the home later renamed after her to become Nightingale Hospital.
“HCA’s expansion in Harley Street is testament to the world class healthcare offering we have across Marylebone,” Richard North, head of commercial Lettings at the Howard de Walden estate, said.
“It will be great to offer a healthcare facility which focuses on women’s health and we’re all looking forward to it opening later this year,” he added.
Going private
HCA’s move is the latest sign that Brits are looking to private healthcare, as soaring waiting lists weigh down the NHS.
This is largely due to an overworked and difficult-to-access public healthcare, which has pushed people away from the service in search of an alternative.
There was a seven per cent increase in private hospital admissions in the first three quarters of 2023 compared to 2022, data from the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN) showed.
City businesses, too, are increasingly offering private healthcare insurance as an employee benefit when trying to recruit new staff.
Marylebone Village
Marylebone Village has gone from strength to strength in the last decade, largely under the direction of the Portman estate and the Howard de Walden estate, who between them own almost all the land in the area.
Marylebone “continues to appeal to a huge range of businesses… we’re seeing [demand] for high quality office space”, Richard North, Head of Commercial Lettings at The Howard de Walden Estate, said.
Both estates have pushed Marylebone from a local village to a prime area for real estate in central London.
“For businesses looking to attract and retain employees and build their brand, [Marylebone] is a prime location to be in,” Trevor Kearney, former senior director at Savills and founder of The Private Office said.
“We have seen the gravitation of commercial space from Knightsbridge and Mayfair go across to areas such as Marylebone and Soho,” he added.
Properties in the area remain an affordable, attractive alternative to their neighbours: Marylebone had an overall average price of £1,539,396 over the last year, a third of the average price in neighbouring Mayfair, according to Rightmove.