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Why Ted Baker founder Ray Kelvin stopped shaking hands
For years, the fashion entrepreneur hid pain that made the simplest greeting impossible. Now he is sharing the treatment that helped get his hands - and his life -back
If you happen to spot a Premier League footballer or an international tennis player slipping into a discreet clinic in Primrose Hill before breakfast, don’t assume they’ve taken a wrong turn on the way to Wembley or Wimbledon. Chances are, they’re there to recover.
Inside At The Core, elite athletes quietly seeking to return from injury are joined by a very different clientele – people whose biggest ambition is simply to walk without pain, play with their grandchildren or open a jar again. They have all come in search of one of medicine’s more intriguing treatments: Magnetic Bio-Stimulation Therapy, better known as MBST.
For Ray Kelvin, the treatment was nothing short of life-changing.
The entrepreneur behind the global lifestyle brand Ted Baker, and now owner of Sealskinz, had spent more than 15 years living with chronic psoriatic arthritis. The disease attacked his hands, ankles and many of the small joints throughout his body. Even the simplest everyday tasks became painful. Shaking hands – once second nature for someone who built an international business through personal relationships – became almost impossible. Instead, he instinctively greeted people with a hug, not through choice but because the pain of a handshake had become unbearable.
When his wife Clare discovered MBST, Ray admits he was sceptical.”I had tried every form of medication to manage the pain and inflammation, but nothing was particularly effective,” he says. “When I was introduced to MBST I had run out of options. I had nothing to lose.”
What happened next surprised him. “Within two sessions I couldn’t believe the improvement. Years of pain immediately eased and the benefits to my life were enormous. More than three years later, I no longer require prescription medication or anti-inflammatory drugs.”
The experience prompted Ray and Clare to establish At The Core in Primrose Hill in 2021, giving others access to the treatment that had changed his own future.
“Watching Ray get his hands back was extraordinary,” says Clare. “It wasn’t simply about reducing pain; it was about restoring his quality of life. We wanted other people living with arthritis, inflammation and musculoskeletal conditions to have access to the same opportunity. Every day we see people arrive feeling they’ve run out of options and seeing them regain confidence and mobility is incredibly rewarding.”
Despite the name, MBST is not the same as an MRI scan. Rather than creating diagnostic images, it uses magnetic resonance technology to stimulate cellular repair processes within bone, cartilage and other musculoskeletal tissues. The treatment is entirely non-invasive, with patients simply sitting or lying comfortably while targeted magnetic resonance sequences are delivered. It has attracted growing interest among elite sports professionals recovering from injury as well as people living with osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and other chronic musculoskeletal conditions. While research continues and it is not considered a replacement for conventional medical care, MBST is increasingly being used alongside physiotherapy and rehabilitation programmes.
Ray Kelvin built one global brand around making people feel good about what they wore. Today, together with Clare, he hopes this quieter venture will help people feel good inside their own bodies again.
Tel:0204 541 8924
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