Moray Coast Vets celebrates becoming employee-owned

One of Scotland’s largest independent mixed veterinary groups is now employee-owned.

Moray Coast Vets has transferred ownership to an employee ownership trust (EOT), meaning it is now owned by its 65-strong team.

The group, which operates from four sites in Forres, Nairn, Lossiemouth and Balloch, has also become the 70th member of XLVets, a community of independently owned veterinary practices.

Vets Mark Pearson and Jamie McLaren, who both serve as directors at Moray Coast Vets and already held shares in the business, celebrated the EOT transition.

Protection ethos

Mr Pearson said: “The decision to pursue employee ownership was fundamental to protecting our ethos and the quality of care we provide.

“We knew that remaining independent mattered to our clients, our team and our local community.

“For us, making our whole team stakeholders in our business, was the most sustainable way to preserve our culture, long-term goals and clinical autonomy.”

Invested

Mr McLaren, who has spent more than 20 years at the practice, added: “Our people are invested, literally and figuratively, in the future of the practice due to the EOT model.

“They have a clear voice, a sense of shared responsibility and a genuine stake in how we move forward.

“That creates a level of cohesion and motivation that is difficult to replicate under other ownership structures.”

Moray Coast Vets is said to have grown significantly in recent years thanks to an established base of farm clients, increasing post-pandemic pet ownership and a sizable population growth across Forres, Nairn and in the surrounding communities with new housing developments.

Investment

Amid the increasing demand for veterinary care, the group is investing in its Forres practice to expand consulting and surgical capacity.

On joining XLVets, Mr McLaren added: “It’s about being part of something bigger without losing what makes us who we are.

“A membership organisation like XLVets gives us access to shared expertise, training, benchmarking and support services, whilst also enabling us to retain the independence that our clients value and that our team thrives on.”

XLVets chief executive Andrew Curwen said: “It’s a joy to welcome the Moray team into the XLVet community. There can be no doubt that practices that are owned and run by people who live within their local communities, and who work cooperatively with other with like-minded professionals, can shine as valuable beacons of credibility, capability, integrity and worth.”