1 Apr 2024
The most predictable consequence of last month’s CMA announcement was the unwelcome return of sensationalised “money-grabbing vet” stories across the mainstream media. In almost every case, however, such ill-informed headlines couldn’t be further from the truth, as <em>VBJ</em> was delighted to rediscover when we paid a visit to Nightingale Vets last month…
Nightingale Vets, Ashleigh Farm, Ashbocking, Suffolk.
Staff: full-time vets 1 • registered veterinary nurses 3 • practice administrators 1
Fees: initial consult £50 • follow-up £36
If Emily Nightingale was motivated by money, she would never have become a vet, would never have moved to a foreign country to study to be a vet and certainly wouldn’t have decided to open her own practice in a converted apple shed last year.
Were it the lure of great riches that drove the 42-year-old married mother of three, she would have given up on her dream of becoming a vet the moment she didn’t make her offer at the University of Cambridge vet school after falling just short with her A-level grades.
A pair of As and two Bs meant the door was still wide open to far more lucrative career paths, but like so many other clever, compassionate young people every year, Emily turned her back on those options because of her lifelong desire to help people and their pets.
Emily was born in Denmark in 1981 to an English father working as a human anaesthetist and a Danish mother – a midwife. They moved back to the UK when Emily was 17 days old and grew up in the seaside town of Harwich. She attended school in Ipswich and grammar school in Colchester, which is where she sat her A-level exams.
But when things didn’t go to plan – and with UK options limited due to the intense competition for places – Emily rediscovered her Scandinavian roots by applying to the Copenhagen-based vet school in Denmark. She learned to speak Danish in 3 months and set out on an 18-year path that ultimately led her to opening Nightingale Vets in Ashbocking, near Ipswich, last November.
She said: “Creating my own practice means I have been able to offer the kind of care that I have always wanted to provide. My dad was a GP in Essex and, back then, doctors were on call and accessible, and that meant they were right at the heart of their communities. I remember my dad always heading out on call in the middle of the night. I saw first hand how much he cared about his patients and what he meant to them.
“And I want it to be like that here. Our ethos is that we care as much about our clients as we do our patients – we give them time and we give them the support they need, too. We want to be a part of their lives and a big part of this local community. For me, that is what this is all about.”
After finishing her degree in Denmark, Emily returned to the UK, where she started out at a mixed animal practice near Cambridge for David Urwin at Belgrave House Veterinary Surgery in Linton before spending two years working at Woolpack Veterinary Surgery in Hertfordshire for Rosemary Hobson – two people who she still describes as “legendary and inspirational vets”.
It was during this early career period that Emily was able to hone her veterinary skills and build on her knowledge about the human-animal bond. Additionally, her degree at the Nordic veterinary school had a strong surgical bias, which allowed Emily to develop a keen interest in surgery early on in her career.
Having spent the first few years of her career as a true mixed vet, Emily then decided to focus her career on the companion animal and small ruminants sector, and spent three years at Clarendon House Veterinary Group in Chelmsford, before enjoying 12 years working for a small animal practice in Halstead, Essex.
It was during this period that Emily and her husband, Kern, had their three children and, while Emily had always enjoyed working life at Clarendon House Veterinary Group, the dream of ownership remained.
So, when she was furloughed during the COVID pandemic in 2020, she used the extra time to carefully consider her options and started making plans. And when the couple were given an offer they couldn’t refuse for the three-bed house they had renovated together, the search began for a suitable new home for the family and a suitable location for Emily’s business.
She said: “When we sold our house in Essex mid-COVID, we needed to find somewhere quickly and unexpectedly found a converted barn in Suffolk. We moved within 10 weeks of the offer being accepted and had the intention of one day setting something up in the area with the money we made from the sale of our house and what we had saved down the years.
“After meeting our new neighbours and sharing my dream of one day wanting to have my own practice somewhere, they mentioned the old apple store on their farm. It was literally just over the road from our house – it was just perfect.”
But Emily and Kern – an IT professional she had met and married during her time in Denmark – did not have an endless pot of cash and the tumbledown building required significant work if it was to be transformed into a veterinary practice.
The old apple shed was riddled with asbestos and needed new windows, a new roof, a new suspended ceiling, new plumbing, gas and water supply and a new floor, as well as significant landscaping to the outside spaces – and that was just for starters.
Fortunately, the couple were able to keep costs within their £200,000 budget for the project by doing most of the work themselves during evenings and weekends. A European Rural Business Development co-funding grant of almost £37,000 also helped as it meant Emily was able to invest in new equipment rather than purchase second-hand.
The grant meant that as an experienced all-rounder who enjoys all aspects of surgery and diagnostics, Emily was able to get the equipment she needed to provide a high level of clinical care in-house.
As a result, Nightingale Vets boasts some impressive kit for a one-vet operation. This includes an in-house laboratory complete with Idexx Procyte and Catalyst, Eickspin centrifuge and microscope, CR x-ray, a video endoscope, a MyLab5 Easoate ultrasound machine, a Mindray 8 multiparameter monitor, Humphrey’s ADE anaesthesia device, a CozyAir active patient warming device, Surgitron electrocautery, a 12-lead ECG and a comprehensive surgical instrument collection including Lonestar retractors.
Emily said: “One of the loveliest bits of kit we have are two immaculate stainless steel large bowls that belonged to my great grandmother, who was a midwife and delivered more than 10,000 babies in Denmark – they are a nod to my medical and caring heritage, which is very special.”
The result of all of this is a small, but perfectly formed little building that is flooded with natural light. Clients are met by a bright and open reception space, which features a reception desk hand-crafted by Emily’s husband that can be raised or lowered from the floor at the push of a button.
Also, two good-sized consult rooms with comfortable seating for owners, a large prep area, a well-equipped operating theatre complete with a Mach LED theatre light and Shoreline hospital beds for patients. Underfloor heating is throughout, which lends an extra well-being factor when the team is sitting with patients on the floor and keeps pets cosy, too.
With such a small building, the couple had to think outside the box to create the extra space they needed for the laboratory area, staff room and x-ray room, which are all housed in two shipping containers that have been cleverly and seamlessly integrated into the rear of the building.
The shipping containers are classed as temporary structures, which meant they did not require planning permission and so its installation did not delay the project.
Emily said: “We also offer home visits, which are a big part of the service we provide to our local community.
“For this we have an electric mobile vet vehicle called Florence, which basically runs on sunshine, as she is charged on solar panels.
“Our three children were two-and-a-half, six and nine when we started, so we have definitely been keeping busy. The entire project cost was nearly £200,000, so a huge amount of money, but we saved a lot because, with the exception of the electrics, we did most of the work ourselves. We designed the logo, did all our own branding, created the website and even made our own windowsills.
“We signed the lease in November 2022 and started the work the following month, with the practice opening for business a year later on 14 November 2023.”
But well before opening the doors to her practice, Emily was focused on building a community around her business. While the small Suffolk village of Ashbocking is hardly a metropolis, the site chosen for Nightingale Vets occupies something of a “sweet spot” when it comes to other practices in the area.
Emily said: “That was more by accident than design, but it also turned out the practice filled a geographical gap in the market – we are like the centre of a clock face with practices all around us, but none too close by, so we were confident we wouldn’t be treading on anyone’s toes.
“And well in advance of us opening, I set up a Devoted Pet Parents Club Facebook group to build that sense of community with pet owners in the area and to help share some tips and advice, and talk about my ethos and the level of care I wanted to give.
“I regularly hold talks at the local Women’s Institute, local schools and scout clubs. I get invited on the radio regularly, which is a great chance to talk about the vital role pets play in our lives and how the incredible work of the veterinary profession supports that relationship. I also write a column in the local magazine all about pet care.
“We support the St Elizabeth Hospice with its Suffolk Dog Day event, which is an annual celebration of all things canine, and it has been magical to see the way dogs bring sparkle and joy to the hospice environment – yet another positive impact of the human-animal bond at work in our community.”
As a result of her community building efforts, Emily had 200 owners pre-registered and now, just three months after opening, Nightingale Vets has more than 260 registered clients and cares for 380 patients.
The practice uses online booking, which frees up reception time and leaves the small team to focus on delivering the kind of wraparound veterinary care that is Emily’s passion.
She said: “All of our owners are invited for a welcome consultation where we spend half an hour with them, talk to them about their pet, carry out a thorough clinical examination and go through their previous history.”
“We also let everyone have a tour of the practice and encourage our clients behind the scenes. We also invite them to watch surgery if they so wish.
“For me, this practice is all about doing something that is heartfelt and authentic, and delivering care at a level we can be very proud of.
“I have had this dream for so long and I think it came from seeing how my parents looked after people in their community and the loveliness that rippled out from that. While our set-up has to stack up financially, it’s genuinely not about making money. It’s not about taking over the world. I want to support and empower my owners to be the best they can be.”
To maintain such a high level of customer care, Emily ensures her team are well looked after, too. with higher than industry average salaries and a host of other perks, including paid weekly wellness breaks, yoga sessions, massages and, of course, great coffee.
She said: “This is about providing care across the board. By looking after my team they will, in turn, be able to give the best care onwards to our owners and our patients.”
The small team is made up of three experienced RVNs and a client care coordinator. Together they have more than 100 years of veterinary experience.
Nightingale Vets offers a range of all-inclusive health plans for cats and dogs, and rabbits, which include unlimited consultations and costs £38 a month for dogs and £28 a month for cats. Lower tier plans are also available that include basic vaccinations, worming and flea prevention, as well as a free six-month health check.
Puppy and kitten plans are also available. Emily said: “Our Welcome to the World programme at £38 per month is a hand-holding approach to help owners navigate that tricky first year. The programme includes vaccinations and the appropriate endo/ectoparasiticides, but also unlimited consultations; puppy parties; confidence clinics; and lots of advice, tips and milestone assessments, as well as discounts on medicines and neutering. They are proving very popular.
“Mirroring this, at the end of life we have created Final Journey Planning, allowing owners to make informed decisions about the options available to them when their pet needs to be laid to rest. These sessions last around an hour and carry no charge.
“It is so much better for grief recovery if they can be prepared for that process and plan ahead. Our owners are so grateful to have the chance to be part of the decision-making process.”
Opening hours at Nightingale Vets are 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, and 9am to 12:30pm on Saturday, with all out-of-hours work currently covered by Melton Veterinary Practice in Woodbridge.
Emily said: “My plan was always for us to do our own OOH work, but at the moment, the balance is not there between work and family, and my husband often works away, so I need to be able to factor that in. But we may have the capability to provide 24-hour care here in the future as there is a larger building on this site that we could expand into.
“We would only expand if we can be certain that we can maintain that integrity, authenticity and level of bespoke, individual care that I’m so passionate about.
“Aside from the OOH, I tend to be able to do most things here except for complex ophthalmology cases and tricky orthopaedics, so I am very happy to refer wherever needed. As a solo vet, I willingly accept my limitations and am lucky to have a solid network of professionals locally and UK-wide that I can draw on for help with more complicated cases.
“My love of community care, my fascination with people, the positive impact of animal companionship and my interest in the human-animal bond is unified by my love of animals and wanting to make a difference.
“After all, it really is all about love. Loving our clients and our patients, loving our team, being at the very heart of the local pet-owning community and loving what we do.”
