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Dr Manning’s journey to becoming a leader in global facial aesthetics was not a typical one. At the tender age of 11 years she decided she wanted to be a doctor, despite her grandfather—a former Secretary of the British Medical Association—telling her she wasn’t clever enough. “I thought, I’ll prove you wrong. I think that’s probably why he did it; because he knew I was a little bit bloody-minded,” she says, admitting though, that she didn’t quite make the grades to study medicine at first. “Unfortunately, I had a bit of an issue with physics. I got an A and an A* in Biology and Chemistry, but I didn’t quite make the grade as physics was a complete anomaly to me, so I didn’t get into medical school first time round: I was absolutely gutted.”
Early career
Despite the early set-back, Dr Manning got into Southampton University via Clearing, to study physiology and biochemistry, and then applied to transfer into medicine.
“I badgered the medical Dean and I think he got so fed up with me, he said if I got a First or a 2:1 in my first year I could transfer. I worked my backside off, got a First and transferred to medicine.”
By the third year of medical school, Dr Manning had secured a Royal Navy cadetship. She completed her House jobs at the Navy’s then Royal Hospital Haslar in Gosport near Portsmouth, and Frimley Park in Camberley, Surrey, before a heart problem ruled her out of serving at sea.
Following her medical discharge from the Navy, she embarked on GP training at St Mary’s Hospital in London’s Paddington and completed her time as a registrar in Shropshire, after moving there with her husband, Edward. She became a partner at a rural GP practice for 10 years, however, when Edward died, leaving her with two small children to raise alone, she didn’t want to stay in the area, and instead moved back to the Isle of Wight. “In Shropshire, my speciality had been treating patients for substance abuse and I became a GPwSI in drugs and alcohol and CCG lead for addiction, which prompted me to work in prisons.”
At that time the Isle of Wight was home to three prisons: Camp Hill, a Category C; Parkhurst, and Albany. Dr Manning mainly worked at Camp Hill with petty offenders who’d found themselves in trouble as a result of their addictions.
She explains: “I treated patients as I would like to be treated myself, which meant in the seven years I was there, I never had one issue. I had a really good rapport with these guys and they respected me for it, and seeing some people turn their lives around was really, really rewarding.”
Dr Manning’s work at the prisons came to an end when they were merged into one site, almost exclusively housing sex offenders. “Until that point, I never knew what crimes people had committed because it wasn’t relevant, but when you’re working with sex offenders, who are a risk to women, you have to know… and when you know what some of these people have done to children and women, it screws with your head a little.”
Medical Aesthetics was a natural change in direction. She had already treated clients from her home in Shropshire in addition to her work as a GP, so when she left her prisons role, it made sense to turn that into a full-time business.
Move to aesthetics
“I met Dr Charlotte Woodward 11 years ago, and we set up River Aesthetics. In the first two years neither of us took any money out of the business; we reinvested everything we earned and just gradually grew together, which is great because we both had very different personality types.”
She explains that “Charlotte and I were like chalk and cheese—she concentrated on the core business and I networked and sought out opportunities. You have your ups and downs, but at the end of it, we’re still great friends and working together 11 years later.”
The Private Clinic’s acquisition of River Aesthetics completed in August 2023, something that Dr Manning says was exciting and a “real career achievement” for her.
“We want to keep building and improving the revenue for River to take it to the next level: being integrated into something bigger will help us to improve the service because we now have access to a private hospital with consultants and other services, so we know our patients are going to benefit.”
What the sale has done, is allow Dr Manning to reduce her days in the clinic while increasing the time she spends teaching and speaking at training events.
She notes how her relationship with Sinclair has blossomed over the years.
They famously treated Meg Mathews, former wife of rock star Noel Gallagher, with Silhouette Soft, with a story and photographs making it into the Sunday Times supplement. “I’ll never forget that day; sitting on the beach on the Sunday when the article came out. The phone just did not stop ringing.”“When we started getting involved in Silhouette Soft, that’s what really put River Aesthetics on the map and we found a niche—collagen stimulation,” she says.
“That’s what River Aesthetics became known for, and it took us to the next level. We became closer to Sinclair as a result and became involved in teaching and speaking. In fact, Dr Manning says working with Sinclair has helped introduce her and Dr Woodward to “amazing” people, plus taught her a lot. “Being one of the global trainers, you get to meet the best-of-the-best across the world.” She adds: “I’ve stayed loyal to Sinclair, and they’ve had my back and looked after me.”
Looking back there are certainly things Dr Manning would have done differently: “But it’s been an incredible journey…and we have learned from it, we really have,” she says.
So what does the future hold?
“When Edward died, I didn’t know which way to turn. And then we started River, and I funded it all on credit cards: I couldn’t let it fail because I had two young children, of seven and eight—they were fully reliant on me, and in the face of adversity, you can make these things work.”
“I remember working with business coach Pam Underdown in the early stages, saying to her ‘I can’t do this, I need to get a proper job, I need to earn money’. She said to be ‘no, you can do it, you’ve just got to keep going - sweat, blood and tears’. And we did.”
And she’s now ready for the next stage of her career: “I love treating patients, so I don’t want to give that side up and I want to be able continue learning and to do more teaching, because that’s what I really enjoy doing. I also want to do a lot more mentoring, of people who are trained but need a little bit of a helping hand along the way.” She also stresses that both she and Dr Woodward are still focused on growing River through The Private Clinic Group. “We want to see it grow…because then we can say that was ours and that’s what we did and that’s where it is now. And that’s a really good thing to be proud of, isn’t it?”
Dr Manning is a Clinical Director of River Aesthetics (now part of the Private Clinic Group). She specialises in non-surgical aesthetics with natural-looking results.
