A NEW HOLISTIC CHAPTER

Reporter Becki Murray visits Dr David Jack’s new Belgravia clinic

Royal College of Surgeons member, leading aesthetic doctor, skincare brand founder and interior design enthusiast – Dr David Jack is quite the multi-hyphenate. Born and raised in Scotland, the doctor is best known for his flagship Harley Street clinic, where a light touch with botulinum toxin and dermal fillers has gained him particularly high esteem.

Now, he’s expanding his remit, with a new clinic in London’s Belgravia. The newly opened space offers more opportunities for patients to access the treatments for which Dr Jack is celebrated. But, in a twist on more traditional clinics, it will also be home to more synergistic services.

“The expansion is first and foremost because I need more rooms, but the new space also gives people more options,” says Dr Jack. “I’m viewing it as somewhere where we will still do treatments such as injectables, lasers and IPL, because that’s our bread and butter, but it will also have things we don’t have in Harley Street.”

First among these new features is the SkinTech Studio – abespoke facial bar concept that is designed to help boost clients’ skin health alongside their aesthetic treatment plans. Dr Jack is also partnering with a dermatologist and nutritional therapists on-site, as a way to comprehensively promote his holistic approach to better skin.

This mindset has always been important to Dr Jack, who started his career in the NHS undertaking surgical training in Edinburgh. He then specialised in plastics, mostly focusing on burn surgery, facial trauma, some paediatric plastics, and breast reconstructions.

In 2008, he started working in aesthetics alongside his health service work, before deciding to leave the NHS to set up his own clinic in 2014. “As a registrar in the NHS doing plastics, I just kind of got burnt out by it,” explains Dr Jack. “I decided that life was too short, and aesthetics was a perfect way to transition away.”

The first Dr David Jack clinic was a small outpost in Knightsbridge, quickly followed by a move to a bigger space on Harley Street a year or so later. Four years ago, the flagship settled at its current address – 96 Harley Street. His second clinic opened its doors at 59 Ebury Street in February.

“I think people come [to Harley Street] because of the name associated with it, but, by the same token, people will go somewhere locally if there’s a trusted brand there. So, for me, it’s about creating that brand,” explains Dr Jack. “I’m hoping that [Ebury Street] will be a space that my patients in the local area will use to go for facials and more routine treatments. That’s part of the rationale of creating the Skin Tech Studio; to offer slightly more accessibly priced facials and to showcase new Korean technology.”

Dr Jack’s great enthusiasm for his clinics is accompanied by a perhaps rarer zeal for their interior design. In fact, he’s undertaking an interior design degree. “I’m very into architecture and interiors, so it’s always been my aim to do more in that space,” Dr Jack reveals. “It’s about having a broader idea of what’s going on in the world and not just copying every other aesthetic clinic. With my new clinic, as with my original one, I’ve done all the interior design.”

A clever eye for interiors might sound like an unusual skill for an aesthetic doctor but for Dr Jack it is key: “Patients want to come to someone who has a similar taste to themselves, and that’s reflected in interiors.”

Specifically, both his Harley Street flagship and new Belgravia clinic are “designed to not look too clinical which can feel quite oppressive,” explains Dr Jack. “They’re intended to blend the worlds of tasteful interiors with the functionality and regulations required of a clinic, so people feel like they can relax.”

With his Harley Street clinic, Dr Jack took inspiration from the Georgian buildings that housed each clinic iteration. “I always wanted to have something that felt more like a comfortable sitting room than a clinical white box,” notes Dr Jack. That’s why the main clinic space, situated in the original breakfast room, comes complete with soft cashmerecoloured walls and marble tables, while the separate treatment room is “designed to look like an elegant dressing room with blue wallpapering and a chandelier.”

The Ebury Street clinic marks a new chapter – both for business expansion and interior design. This time the aesthetic doctor, who is half Italian and half Scottish, has taken inspiration from Milan’s architecture – something he says he has always wanted to do.

“The new clinic is in a ‘60s building and the design inspiration is this 1930s house in Milan called Villa Necchi, designed by the famous Italian architect Piero Portaluppi,” says Dr Jack. “The clinic interiors are based on the rooms, so I brought together traditional furniture, French tapestry, oil paintings, more abstract art, and 1930s-style wood panels. I didn’t want to replicate what I’ve got in Harley Street. This approach allowed me to make it still warm and comfortable within the context of the quite brutal, 1960s building environment.”

Yet, while his clinics seem set to continue bearing his signature décor personality, it’s the fact you can’t see his work on his clients’ faces that has bought Dr Jack his success.

“A lot of my patients don’t want to look like they have had anything done and almost without exception they come to me because I don’t want to do things,” reveals Dr Jack. That includes his male clientele – which makes up almost 30% of his business. “I think part of why my ethos appeals to them is because as soon as you start to make work obvious, you’ve lost trust and therefore the client. I’m known for working in a way that is appropriate for that person’s face. I only do fillers to replace volume, not to create some new structures. Similarly, with Botox, it is about working to reverse the muscle dynamic changes that have happened, rather than trying to freeze every line.”

There’s one further string to his bow too – the Dr David Jack Skincare line. The range launched in 2018 and includes a streamlined three-product regime, plus supplements and face peels. It is all designed to be simple to use and to support skin health for all skin types.

“As a surgeon, you try to rationalise everything that you’re doing, focusing on what is needed and eliminating what’s not,” reveals Dr Jack. “So, with my brand, I wanted to do something that would work as a foundation for good skincare. I included supplements as I was thinking about things holistically, but I didn’t want to have too many products. I think it’s important to surgically cut through the noise with skincare.”

 As for the future, Dr Jack has his sights set on more exciting expansion opportunities. There’s a soon-to-launch cleanser to fill a gap within the skincare line, alongside more tailored booster serums to help his clients treat a wide range of skin goals at-home. As for the clinics, you can expect an expanded offering there too. That includes more minimally invasive body treatments, such as Endolift for contouring; plus the new Korean-inspired facial treatment menu. Whatever happens, one thing ’s for sure, there’s still lots more to come from the multi-hyphenate aesthetic doctor.