About Emma and AVK Dental Care
Since opening in 2013, AVK Dental Care has grown into a group of modern practices across Aberdeen and the surrounding area — backed by a 70-strong team and its own dental lab.
At the centre of it all is Emma Brewer, who’s worked alongside founder Dr Vikram Kavi for nearly a decade. Emma manages day-to-day operations and leads on HR, supporting six practice managers and the wider team.
With so many people to look after, Emma needed a simple HR system that would help reduce admin time - so that she could stay focused on what really matters: her people.
The Challenge: HR admin that took time away from what mattered
Before Breathe, people admin at AVK Dental Care was mostly handled with spreadsheets, emails and filing cabinets. For Emma and the six practice managers, it meant spending anywhere from 30 minutes to three hours a day on things like holiday tracking, sickness absences, leave requests and shift updates.
Sharing HR policies and updates with the team was tricky too. Documents were emailed or posted, and there was no easy way to check if anyone had actually read them — or whether sensitive information had been missed. It was time-consuming, hard to track, and left the team without the visibility they needed.
The Solution: Making space to do things differently
When the pandemic hit in 2020, much of the AVK team went on furlough — but not Emma. She stayed on and used the time to take a fresh look at how the business was run. Her goal? To simplify the way things worked, save time, and cut unnecessary costs.
One of the biggest admin challenges was HR. That’s when Emma reached out to her HR consultant, Dianne Stewart, director of It’s a People Business. With more than 18 years of experience and a Chartered CIPD membership under her belt, Dianne quickly understood what Emma was trying to achieve.
Dianne recommended Breathe – our simple, cloud-based HR software built for small businesses designed for small businesses. It would give Emma and her team one central place to manage holiday bookings, absence tracking, rotas, holiday entitlement, documents, and performance — all online and in real time.
As part of Breathe’s trusted partner network, Dianne knew it was a system that would not only make Emma’s life easier but also give her team the visibility and structure they needed. With everything centralised, Emma could cut down on repetitive HR tasks and stay focused on her team — and having all the tools in one platform would make the transition feel simple and achievable.
Today, over 16,000 UK SMEs use Breathe to keep on top of HR admin. As a trusted choice for small businesses, it’s designed to be straightforward, flexible, and easy to get started with — no steep learning curve or IT help needed. And with employee data stored securely and in line with GDPR best practice, Emma could feel confident knowing her team’s information was in safe hands.
"Everyone in the company is happy with Breathe. Team members love using the software and find it easy to use. Our practice managers are spending less time on HR yet are more efficient with a greater visibility of their team members and what they are doing."
Emma Brewer, HR Lead, AVK Dental Care
The Results:
Time-savings and increased visibility for Emma and her team
“Once we’d uploaded all our company documents and employee info, the time savings were immediate – it was amazing. The platform gave us quick access to HR data that used to take hours to find. I had everything at my fingertips. No more rummaging through folders or searching email threads. If I need a document or staff record, I can find it in seconds.”
Emma Brewer, HR Lead, AVK Dental Care
Breathe gives Emma and her team everything they need in one place and helps to centralise data across locations and teams – from holiday management and absence tracking to document sharing and employee records. Everyone at AVK has access, but permissions are set by role, so the right people see the right things. Practice managers can view and manage their teams, while Emma, in her senior role, has full visibility across the business.
"What I really like is how self-service it is. If someone moves house or changes bank details, they just update Breathe themselves – and our finance team can see it instantly. It’s absolutely effortless.”
Emma Brewer, HR Lead, AVK Dental Care
These employee self-service options have helped AVK reduce repetitive HR tasks and empower their team to take ownership of everyday admin.
Easier and faster rota planning
Rota planning was one of the most time-consuming parts of Emma’s role. For healthcare SMEs like AVK Dental Care, managing staff across multiple locations and shift patterns, while juggling day-to-day staff management responsibilities can be particularly complex — especially when relying on spreadsheets or manual systems. That’s why having HR software for healthcare SMEs makes all the difference. So, when Breathe launched its Rota, Time & Attendance (RTA) add-on, she gave it a try – and hasn’t looked back.
"Everyone can access it from their phones, wherever they are. It’s completely changed how we communicate rotas and schedule shifts, especially across multiple practices. If anything changes, we update the rota and everyone’s notified straight away.”
Emma Brewer, HR Lead, AVK Dental Care
That switch has saved the team roughly 24 hours a month – the equivalent of over a month a year. That’s time back to spend on patient care, team development and the bigger picture.
Supporting staff in difficult times and wherever they work
During COVID-19, Breathe introduced new features to help businesses like AVK stay on top of furlough records, vaccination status and sickness tracking. Managers could monitor absences more closely and quickly spot patterns if something didn’t look right.
“It’s especially helpful to see if someone’s read an important document – that was vital during the pandemic, when clear communication was more important than ever.”
Emma Brewer, HR Lead, AVK Dental Care
With fingerprint scanners off-limits during the pandemic, Breathe’s Rota, Time and Attendance add-on became a safe and simple alternative. Staff could log their hours securely – even when working from home, as long as they had an internet connection.
"We needed to adapt quickly and Breathe made it easy. It helped us stay compliant with hygiene measures and gave us visibility over who was working, when, and where.”
Emma Brewer, HR Lead, AVK Dental Care
Looking ahead
With Breathe now part of daily life at AVK Dental, Emma is more confident about the future. As the team continues to grow, new starters will be set up on the system from day one — making it easy for them to get settled, find what they need and start contributing straight away.
"Everyone here is happy using Breathe. The team love how simple it is, and our practice managers are saving time while having better visibility of what’s going on day to day.”
Emma Brewer, HR Lead, AVK Dental Care
For Emma, the benefits go beyond admin. Breathe has freed up time, improved communication, and made HR feel more manageable — all while helping AVK run more smoothly.
“We’re saving a huge amount of time, which brings real cost savings too. Breathe has made us more efficient and more productive — and that’s had a real impact on the business.”
Emma Brewer, HR Lead, AVK Dental Care
Ready to make HR simpler?
Whether you’re managing HR for your own business, or supporting clients as an HR consultant, Breathe can help you save time and stay organised.
Join thousands of UK SMEs and HR consultants already using Breathe’s cloud-based HR platform to take the stress out of people admin — and free up time to focus on what really matters. With the right HR system in place, you’ll have the visibility and control you need to stay ahead.
Find out more about becoming a Breathe Partner here or, hit the button below to start your free Breathe trial.