Register

Login

+
  • View all news
  • Vets news
  • Vet Nursing news
  • Business news
  • + More
    • Videos
    • Podcasts
  • View all clinical
  • Small animal
  • Livestock
  • Equine
  • Exotics
  • Vet Times jobs home
  • All Jobs
  • Your ideal job
  • Post a job
  • Career Advice
  • Students
About
Contact Us
For Advertisers
NewsClinicalJobs

Vets

All Vets newsSmall animalLivestockEquineExoticWork and well-beingOpinion

Vet Nursing

All Vet Nursing newsSmall animalLivestockEquineExoticWork and well-beingOpinion

Business

All Business newsHuman resourcesBig 6SustainabilityFinanceDigitalPractice profilesPractice developments

+ More

VideosPodcasts

The latest veterinary news, delivered straight to your inbox.

Choose which topics you want to hear about and how often.

About

Advertise with us

Recruitment

Contact us

Vets

All Vets news

Small animal

Livestock

Equine

Exotic

Work and well-being

Opinion

Vet Nursing

All Vet Nursing news

Small animal

Livestock

Equine

Exotic

Work and well-being

Opinion

Business

All Business news

Human resources

Big 6

Sustainability

Finance

Digital

Practice profiles

Practice developments

Clinical

All Clinical content

Small animal

Livestock

Equine

Exotics

Jobs

All Jobs content

All Jobs

Your ideal job

Post a job

Career Advice

Students

More

All More content

Videos

Podcasts


Terms and conditions

Complaints policy

Cookie policy

Privacy policy

© Veterinary Business Development Ltd 2025

IPSO_regulated

15 Nov 2024

CMA vet inquiry chief: animal welfare will ‘underpin’ recommendations 

Chairperson Martin Coleman tells packed London Vet Show session this afternoon (15 November): “We're not just going to present a set of remedy proposals, take it or leave it.”

author_img

Allister Webb

Job Title



CMA vet inquiry chief: animal welfare will ‘underpin’ recommendations 

Martin Coleman, inquiry chair for the CMA’s market investigation into veterinary services. Image: CMA / GOV.UK

The head of a regulator’s investigation into the provision of veterinary services for household pets has insisted animal welfare will “underpin” any recommendations it makes for change.

The message was delivered by Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) inquiry group chairperson Martin Coleman as he addressed London Vet Show delegates this afternoon (15 November).

Despite broad support for the inquiry process, the CMA has been criticised in recent months for what some groups have seen as a lack of emphasis on animal welfare.

‘Pressured’ circumstances

But Mr Coleman told a packed BVA Congress session that he respected both the profession and the often “pressured and emotive” circumstances of its work.

He said: “We’re not just going to present a set of remedy proposals, take it or leave it.

“We will set out, as this process develops, how our thinking is developing, what the remedy options may be.

“We would encourage people to come to us and respond if they feel some of the things we’re thinking about may have unintended consequences for animals.

“We understand this is not just a market that should be looked at through a prism of buying and selling, as important as those things are. Underpinning it all is animal welfare.”

Midway point

The comments came roughly midway through the investigation process, which is due to deliver final recommendations in November next year.

Mr Coleman stressed: “Nothing we have seen or heard in our investigation so far has caused us to doubt the care and professionalism of the vast majority of veterinary professionals.

“The focus of our inquiry is not on that, but on how veterinary services for pets are bought and sold.”

Working papers

A series of working papers, setting out the panel’s current thinking, are expected to be published in the coming months, with provisional recommendations expected early next summer.

Mr Coleman stressed that veterinary groups and companies would be given the opportunity to comment on those recommendations.

BVA Congress 2024 London Vet Show
Martin Coleman’s speech was a key part of BVA Congress at this year’s London Vet Show.