25 Jan 2024
Kent-based Pennard Vets wins Employee Ownership Association’s Rising Star gong.
Paul Imrie
Job Title
From left: Meridith Goodman, Caroline Collins, Claire Ross and Matthew Flann from Pennard Vets.
The world’s largest employee-owned vet practice group is celebrating landing a national award.
Pennard Vets, based in Kent, has been named as the Employee Ownership Association’s (EOA) Rising Star, which recognises success in organisations that have been employee owned for less than three years.
Judges noted Pennard Vets had leveraged its employee ownership to impact growth and staff satisfaction through embedding a strong culture. They saw it had also maintained its independence and become a champion of the employee ownership model in the vet sector.
Pennard Vets, which has eight practices in Kent, made its 150-strong team business owners by transferring to an employee ownership trust (EOT) in 2021.
Matthew Flann, a director at Pennard, said: “Winning this award is a huge coup for our entire industry, who have been searching for ways to secure the future of their independent practices. Set against a backdrop of increasing corporatisation of UK veterinary practices, we chose to protect our heritage by becoming an EOT.
“It hasn’t been easy, but it has been massively rewarding and our team has passionately bought into their new status as owners, and the results can be seen throughout the practice – from team-led initiatives to the impact on the range of procedures we can now offer to our patients.
“It’s genuinely been transformational and since 2021 we’ve doubled turnover and grown our team by 30%.”
The business has added Abbotsley Veterinary Group and Priory Lodge into the group, with each practice citing its EOT status as a motivating factor for their moves.
Mr Flann added: “Crucially, our EOT structure provided the launchpad to becoming the first veterinary practice in Europe to achieve B-Corp status in 2022, which we see as another step towards becoming the very best practice possible, using input and ideas from our team to provide a better service, give back to our community and protect the environment.
“We’re also determined to make the journey less arduous for other veterinary practices to follow our lead. We’ve established the British Veterinary Employee Owned Association to help guide other practices through the journey of becoming an EOT by networking, attending events and presenting webinars.”
He added Pennard had helped practices on a similar journey across the UK, including Stirling, Herefordshire, Shetland and Belfast.
