6 Mar 2026
With final remedy proposals from the CMA pending, SPVS Congress delegates were assured the authority had “evolved” its approach.
Allister Webb
Job Title
Pete Orpin speaking as part of the Big 6 panel at SPVS Congress 2026.
Senior veterinary figures have urged business regulators not to risk further “harm” when they deliver their verdict on how the sector should be reformed.
Final remedy proposals from the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) investigation are expected in the coming weeks, ahead of the May deadline for the process to be completed.
However, SPVS Congress delegates were assured the authority had “evolved” its approach during the Vet Times Big 6 Live debate there.
BVA president Rob Williams said the body now had a “clearer understanding” of the sector and was in “listening mode” during the 27 February session.
He added: “They are at a point where they want to try to work out what would actually work without creating lots of havoc and chaos and mayhem that would lead to massive unintended consequences.”
New SPVS president Pete Orpin also revealed the authority had been urged not to “hang us out to dry and create further media harm” when the final remedies are released.
He said: “They don’t seem to necessarily understand everything. But, in their defence, we didn’t understand everything until we started looking under the bonnet.”
However, a show of hands among delegates indicated a majority remain concerned about the CMA’s medicine proposals negatively affecting their own practices.
SPVS board chairperson Vicki Farbon suggested the authority had not realised just how significant its reforms might be until an alternative case was presented to it.
She said: “We presented to them very clearly from an independent practice’s point of view what that would actually look like, and actually our fees would increase, and they were quite shocked when we presented that work to them.”
Natalie Morris-Webb, who owns the independent Malthouse Vets in Shropshire, acknowledged the fears over medicine change were legitimate, but also described receiving a barrage of calls from clients who wanted to get drugs from her practice after they had announced plans to email prescriptions directly to online pharmacies.
She said: “I do almost wonder if we don’t give clients enough credit at this point. They know they can get their drugs online, and if they didn’t know before, they’ve certainly learned over the past two-and-a-half years, haven’t they?”
PetPeople veterinary director Francesca Verney encouraged delegates to lean on each other as much as possible, as she argued clients who wanted to use alternative suppliers were already doing so.
She said: “It’s very location dependent, but I think a lot of people that are using online resources are already there to some degree.”
Hello Vet chief veterinary technological officer Oli Viner also drew lessons from the sector’s response to its last competition probe as he warned against “cataclysm” predictions.
He said: “It’s not going to be, the day after the announcement, all of our meds revenue is going to disappear.”
The full debate, which closed the two-day congress in Birmingham, is available now as a podcast (see below or visit the page on vettimes.com)