1 Jul 2022
Independent family owned The Pet Vet acquires eight surgeries in deal, which has come about after CVS agreed to unwind its earlier £20.4 million acquisition of Quality Pet Care.
Paul Imrie
Job Title
Family owned independent The Pet Vet today (1 July) announced a deal for eight surgeries previously acquired by CVS.
The purchase of all eight The Vet-branded surgeries has come about after CVS agreed to unwind its £20.4 million acquisition of Quality Pet Care and sell to a third party.
The original CVS deal in August 2021 was subjected to an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in February this year over serious competition concerns in five towns and cities. The CMA accepted CVS’ undertakings to divest of The Vet this week (27 June 2022).
The Pet Vet, founded in 2011 and solely owned by University of Bristol graduate Rob Jones, has three large purpose-built surgeries in Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster, and opened a 5,500 sq ft surgery in Lincoln in December.
Its portfolio is now 12 with the addition of The Vet’s surgeries in Warrington, Portsmouth, Bristol, Southampton, Nottingham, Liverpool, Morden and Waltham Forest, London – making it, The Pet Vet said, the largest independent family owned practice in the UK and the only one with “a national presence”.
The Pet Vet said it had secured £3.1 million from alternative lender ThinCats earlier this year to fund an “ambitious growth plan”. This, it said, allowed it to snap up The Vet, which went back on sale in April.
Mel Fuller, managing director of The Pet Vet, said: “The Pet Vet is absolutely delighted to welcome all The Vet colleagues into our family.
“Our commitment is to continual reinvestment of profits in the development of our teams, our services and in new technology, making our surgeries fulfilling places to work and offering high-quality first opinion veterinary services.
“I have always been of the opinion that if you take care of your colleagues, they will take care of your customers. Our commitment to reinvesting profits has also allowed us to develop centres of excellence for orthopaedic and soft tissue surgery, imaging and dentistry, removing the need for external referral and enabling us to offer our services to other practices within our regions.
“The acquisition of The Vet gives us scope to further expand our expertise and services, offer even greater career progression, enhance our buying power and increase our influence on the overall quality of first opinion veterinary care in the UK.”
Dr Jones, chairman and sole owner of The Vet, said: “With nearly 70% of the veterinary practice market by revenue already in the ownership of major corporations, a fact of which most consumers are still completely unaware, this is a real opportunity for us as a family business to make a positive difference for pet owners.
“Our acquisition of The Vet will allow us to further advance in-house provision, giving our vets more variety and stimulation in their working day, and even greater opportunities for professional development.”
