Colin Lewin Members Showcase

Colin Lewin, physiotherapist and co-founder of The Lewin Sports Injury Clinic talks about moving from elite sport to setting up his own clinic and how MSKPN is helping his business.

“Access to experienced physio business owners is priceless.”

My co-founder Gary Lewin and I originated from the world of elite sports and were aware that the availability of quality private sector physiotherapy for sports injuries was severely lacking in our area. So we set up The Lewin Sports Injury Clinic in 2019.

We joined MSKPN in 2022

We found out about MSKPN through social media and thought that the group chat function and webinars would be really helpful.

Top 4 benefits of being part of MSKPN

• Experienced business owners who are all willing to help – Here we know the vast majority of members know far more than us about this sector.
• Not on our own –  We can’t do it on our own so having those huge businesses on our side is just what we need.
• Regular webinars – We’ve seen a lot of the webinars and the BUPA updates were really helpful.
• Sense of community – It’s a nice group of kind, well-mannered people who are well thought of.

MSKPN is unselfish – everyone wants to help each other

We joined after realising we know the elite sports injury world very well, but we didn’t know this sector at all. A member might ask – I need a physio in Bristol, can you help? Then you know if you’ve helped them out, they’ll help me out. We’ve had lots of advice around PMIs. People are so generous with their time and we’d always do the same for them.

As a growing business, MSKPN is giving me everyone else’s experience, as well as learning from everyone else’s mistakes

Aware that in the first year we’ve been incredibly naïve and made many mistakes, it was great to learn that MSKPN is not competitive at all. Even if it’s someone down the road, I know that everyone is there to help each other. It’s more about how we all can get better together.

The advice on PMIs is invaluable

We’ve benefitted from advice around re-negotiations with the PMIs. Payment has been difficult and I know we need standards and statistics to back us up. The advice really helped and answers to my long list of questions came freely. Some contracts were very complicated so just to have a conversation around how to deal with it and contact emails was vital.

My advice would be to try it for a year at a tier you feel comfortable with – it’s excellent value for money

To join the lowest tier is only a few hundred pounds a year and you are going to get a lot more back in advice. That’s before you even think about the discounts and the webinars.

Read more about Colin’s early career and progress to date …

What inspired you to be a MSK clinician

At school I had little idea what I wanted to do. My cousin Gary was a physio at the time working for Arsenal FC so I focused my A levels on that and studied physiotherapy at the University of Brighton.

I worked at Arsenal FC for 23 years

I liked the atmosphere in a hospital environment but I had the opportunity to work with youth and reserve teams at Arsenal. I’d planned to do a year or 2 but within my first 2 seasons, a new manager arrived. Shortly after that we won the League and the Cup and during that time, I was promoted to the first team. In 2008, my cousin then became England lead physio and I was promoted to head of medical at Arsenal.

In 2019 we set up the Lewin Sports Injury Clinic

We decided to set up our own clinic in East London/Essex alongside. The timing was unfortunate being 6 months before Covid, but we identified a need in the area with such a big population density of good, young athletes with grass roots rugby, hockey, cricket, football, athletics and 3 private schools.

Elite level athlete rehab for everyone

So we set up our clinic with a 1000 sq foot gym, 4 treatment rooms and reception area. Our idea was to set up a rehab/physio clinic offering elite level athlete rehab for everyone.

I love the unpredictability of my work

Having my own clinic is very different from working 23 seasons in elite sport. I loved the pressure and privilege of having to make big decisions with a massive match every 4 days. In this clinic environment, I love that no patient is ever the same and I’m solving problems whether it be from an elite level footballer, hockey player, heavyweight boxing champion or someone with debilitating arthritis or an 80 year old lady with knee issues.

We’re working very hard to grow the business

We were able to do what we wanted with the building and so opted for big airy rooms, a full gym and placed football shirts on the walls as it gets people interested in the story behind the place. It was important to involve a range of specialties too, including massage therapists and in the future, sports medicine consultants and strength and conditioning coaches.

Learn more at https://www.mskpn.co.uk

https://www.lewinclinic.co.uk/

Click here to download:  Colin Lewin members showcase final