As we move into 2026, I have been reflecting on 2025 and what the year brought for us as a business, as well as to the sector at large.
I am someone who enjoys talking to people, so it’s no surprise that one of my highlights in 2025 has been co-hosting our Aesthetic Business Cast podcast with Vicky Eldridge. We’ve had a fantastic lineup of guests and tackled some hard-hitting topics, from regulation with Andrew Rankin to weight management and weight loss injections with Piroska Cavell.
We’ve also delved into lasers with Debbie Thomas and events and entrepreneurship with Mark Moloney, as well as our two-part episode with one of my long-term friends – Dr Bob Khanna. And of course, I mustn’t forget to mention our latest episode, where we turned the tables and I was the guest. I am usually much more comfortable being the one asking the questions, but it was actually a lot of fun, and very humbling, to reflect on Hamilton Fraser’s 30 years in the sector, which we will be celebrating this year.
The podcasts really help me take the temperature of the industry and the conversations we have provide me with perspectives from a really diverse range of people. One theme that kept coming back, encapsulating what 2025 has meant for me, was patient safety.
At the events we attended in 2025, we've talked more about safety than we have in the last 30 years. For me, this has consolidated the very reason we set up Hamilton Fraser in 1996. My vision was always to be more than just a company that sells insurance policies. I've always had the foundation stones that if you're going to do something, you want to do it in an ethical way and you want to improve the industry that you're selling that insurance policy to.
Malpractice insurance is all about protecting the practitioner, but patient benefits as well, because if something does go wrong, they're not left high and dry. And with regulation coming down the line, 2025 for me has just been an amplification of that message – the safety of the patient, the professionalism you need to run a business.
The rise of wellness and longevity
Another shift I’ve seen really take shape in 2025 is the move away from aesthetics being just about fillers or toxins. For years, we talked about future treatments and how the industry was evolving but now that evolution feels real and I think the weight loss phenomenon has had a large role to play here.
Fillers and toxins are still the staples of the industry, but it’s clear that aesthetics is moving towards a much more holistic, wellness-led approach. The focus isn’t simply on looking younger anymore. It’s about feeling better, living better and how different treatments come together to create a programme of improvement.
Women’s health is a big part of the picture here. We’ve been involved in that space for a couple of years now. As the subject entered the mainstream, it quickly became clear that the aesthetics industry has an important role to play. But what we don’t want is people simply jumping on bandwagons without proper knowledge or responsibility.
These emerging areas create genuine opportunities for practitioners to grow their practices in a considered way. And our role, as always, is to help protect those practitioners and support them in building sustainable, responsible businesses as the sector continues to broaden.
Reflecting on regulation
One of the clearest shifts I noticed in 2025 was the changing tone around regulation. In many of the conversations I’ve had, there’s far less resistance and a lot more realism. Most people now accept that licensing and tighter oversight are coming and that the real question is no longer if, but how we prepare for it.
For me, regulation shouldn’t be seen as a threat. Done properly, it’s about raising standards and protecting both patients and practitioners. Those who have already invested in good governance, proper consultations, training and documentation are in a much stronger position than those still hoping it will all blow over. If you’re already operating to a high standard, regulation really shouldn’t be a problem.
I’ve worked closely with the JCCP for around 10 years. That journey has been hugely shaped by David Sines, who recently announced his decision to step away. David deserves enormous credit. He had the foresight to recognise early on that regulation isn’t just about who can do which treatment – it’s about consumer protection, risk, and safety, and about creating a framework that can stand the test of time as new treatments emerge.
What David and the JCCP have achieved is often underestimated. They have brought different parts of the industry together around the same table – medics, non-medics, beauty and aesthetics – all focused on the same goal: patient safety.
As David steps back, he leaves behind a strong, well-structured organisation with a clear vision, capable of standing on its own two feet. He may no longer be the face of the JCCP, but his influence on safety and standards in aesthetics will be felt for many years to come.
The market is still booming
There’s a lot of doom and gloom around the wider economy, but from where I’m sitting, aesthetics is still booming. I don’t recognise the narrative that the market is shrinking.
When I look at what we’re seeing day to day, the numbers tell a very different story. In 2025, the volume of quote enquiries coming into us has risen sharply. We’re now seeing around 2,000 enquiries a month from medical practitioners. That’s not the number of policies we’re writing, but it is the number of practitioners actively exploring aesthetics and asking what it would take to do it properly.
Not every enquiry turns into a policy. But the level of interest alone tells me the market is growing, not contracting.
So when I hear people say the industry is shrinking, that just doesn’t align with what we’re seeing. In fact, many practitioners are thriving, and what’s particularly encouraging is that newer entrants to the market often have a more progressive outlook than we did years ago. They’re thinking more holistically, offering a wider range of treatments, and approaching aesthetic medicine in a far more rounded way.
Looking ahead to 2026
I’ve never been one for bold predictions, but I do feel optimistic for our sector. 2025 laid important foundations and I am hoping we begin to get a clearer picture of what regulation/licensing will look like in 2026. For me, aesthetics as a market is cementing its place as a sector to be taken seriously. And for practitioners who are prepared to do things properly, that’s a good place to be.
In terms of trends, I believe we will continue to see this move towards wellness and longevity and a more holistic approach. I also think the weight loss jab phenomenon will only continue to grow. We will be closely watching new and emerging areas like exosomes and peptides, which are currently hot topics but are also being widely talked about from a risk perspective. Additionally, we are seeing more treatment for men as well as the eye area becoming a focus.
If there’s one thing I’d genuinely like to see as we head into 2026, it’s an industry that’s less divided, more collaborative, and united around the shared goal of helping people feel better, more confident and healthier overall.
Happy New Year
Eddie
