10 May 2025
Opening a veterinary practice from scratch can become a bit of a drawn-out process in the UK – finding the money and the site, gaining the necessary approvals and then getting it built can take months, or even years. But it would seem things move rather more quickly in other parts of the world, as VBJ discovered when we caught up with Jon Williams, owner of Hong Kong’s newest veterinary practice…
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Hong Kong, and more specifically the Chinese Government that has controlled the former British colony since 1997, doesn’t always get the best press in the western hemisphere.
The impression often given is one of a heavily bureaucratic and top-down system of governance with Communist officials waiting around every corner to tie up everything – and everybody – in red tape.
But that occidental perception of Chinese-controlled Hong Kong is not entirely accurate, and the region didn’t go to pot when the Brits were sent packing almost 30 years ago.
In fact, it seems like an excellent place to do business and for Jon Williams at least, Hong Kong has delivered everything he ever wanted from his veterinary career.
Since moving to Hong Kong straight after graduating from Glasgow vet school in 2002, Jon has had a variety of jobs in the small animal veterinary sector, including lengthy spells in private practice and also as a senior surgeon for the SPCA – formerly the RSPCA.
With veterinary salaries up to three times higher than in the UK and with a flat tax rate of 15 per cent, it has also been a financially rewarding career, but for many years Jon had an itch to scratch and that was owning his own business.
He had come close to taking the plunge four years ago, but the death of his mother meant plans were shelved as Jon seriously considered coming back to the UK to be closer to his father.
However, having been convinced to stay in Hong Kong and with a benevolent financial backer waiting in the wings, Jon decided to go for it, and within less than two months he was opening the doors to Southside Vets in Repulse Bay, on the salubrious south side of the Island.
So, while it has been a long career journey as a vet, the journey to becoming an owner proved to be surprisingly short.
“It is probably unusual for a British vet to take their first job out in Hong Kong, but at the time I had a few friends who had gone out there to work and they were really enjoying it, so it was a chance to travel and clear some student debt,” said Jon.
“The lifestyle sounded great, and the pay was great too – I think my friends were starting their first jobs in the UK on around £20,000 back in 2002, while my first salary was £50,000 with negligible tax so that provided me with a really good standard of living.
“And I have loved the work and the people, too. We have a lot of ex-pats still here post-handover, but I have also worked in practices where everyone only speaks Cantonese, so there is a lot of variety out here and I knew, one day, that I would like to open my own place and make my mark.
“So, when a good friend offered to completely invest in the new practice and with a favourable shareholders agreement, I went for it. I always knew that if I opened somewhere of my own that it would be in Repulse Bay as there are more than 20,000 people in the area and with no current veterinary clinic it made sense.”
The building chosen by Jon for Southside Vets was a former after-school education centre on the first floor of The Pulse shopping mall in the heart of what is an extremely affluent, pet-friendly area.
Located on the beach front overlooking the millionaire’s playground of Repulse Bay, Southside Vets serves one of the most expensive residential areas in the world.
Jon added: “So, we found the perfect site and really it was easy from there to be honest. We secured a five-year lease for less than £10,000 a month, the approvals all came through very quickly once the designs were approved by the landlord.
“With help from a brilliant local company, the space was transformed to my exact specifications in just over a month – and that included a week off for Chinese New Year, during which everything in Hong Kong comes to a standstill.
“It really has been quite phenomenal to see how quickly it has all come together; walls were removed and added, full new electrics and plumbing installed and all in five weeks from getting the keys to the unit.”
Some might imagine that Hong Kong pet owners would favour the smaller breeds of dogs and while there are plenty of French bulldogs and cockapoos about, the trend is for larger dogs in this well-heeled part of town.
Fortunately, at 1,700 sq ft, Southside Vets is large enough to cope with anything that comes through the door, while the same can also be said for Jon and his small team.
With such a wealth of experience, including a number of years spent working as an emergency and critical care vet, there isn’t much Jon can’t handle himself, meaning referrals are rare.
This clearly suits a wealthy client base that has high expectations when interacting with the service providers they choose – and that includes the veterinary care for their pets.
So, while setting up, kitting out and building Southside Vets cost the relatively modest sum of £250,000 (by UK standards at least), that didn’t mean cutting corners with the quality of build and fit out.
Jon used an architect from Southern Interior Co and branding firm Red Elephant, which combined to design and create a space that reflected the values and aspirations of Hong Kong’s high-end pet owners.
The practice boasts two large consult rooms and a large waiting area featuring the practice’s distinctive “balloon dog” logo. Full length glass walls create an open feel to the front-facing areas while the clinical space features everything you would expect in a practice delivering high standard small animal care.
And in this regard, being in Hong Kong and dealing direct with China once again proved to be advantageous.
Jon added: “Aside from it being so easy to get this place up and running, one of the other things was how easy and how much cheaper it was to get all the equipment we needed, with China on our doorstep. All the cages were made to measure and arrived flat-packed from China with dividing panels, which can removed to make the cages more comfortable for larger dogs.
“The surgery table, instead of buying it from Europe, came directly from the manufacturer. An 87kg steel surgery table, instead of costing £4,500 in the UK, cost £800, the dental table was £500 and the dental machine £450.
“It was the same with all the equipment – digital x-ray and ultrasound, too – the savings when compared to the UK were massive as we can deal directly with the companies that make all that kit for everyone anyway.”
Despite having only been open since 8 February, Southside Vets already has more than 200 registered clients and Jon expects to be breaking even by the early summer months of trading.
Projected monthly revenue for June is £50,000, and with a second vet due to come on-board later this year, it seems the sky’s the limit.
And it seems good news travels fast, and not just among local pet owners. While Hong Kong does not have anything like the corporate ownership levels seen in the UK, within hours of opening the doors at Southside Jon had already received an enquiry from a company looking to buy the practice.
The offer was politely declined as Jon isn’t planning on going anywhere and instead plans to build his brand in this glamorous corner of the world.
Southside Vets has a cosmopolitan team of two receptionists and three veterinary nurses, covering the languages of English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Swedish and Finnish, and while Jon is adding another vet, for now the team is coping admirably well with a fast-growing client base.
“The team is great, and it helped that I knew most of them before we opened this place. The nurses are registered and highly capable in the clinical setting and we have everything we need to make Southside Vets a real success,” added Jon.
And as well as all the equipment one would expect to find in an advanced first opinion practice in the UK, Southside also boasts all the technical support it needs to deliver high quality care.
Jon said: “We use Antech for our diagnostic support, histopathology and rabies export bloods. One popular test that they supply is the Wisdom Genetic Panel, which looks for more than 200 genetic cancer markers as well as genetic breed breakdown, so we are supported to work up our cases to very high levels.”
The level of insured clients is low when compared to the UK, and health plans are not part of the veterinary landscape, but being in such an affluent area means finance is rarely an issue for clients.
In Hong Kong there is also no obligation to provide out-of-hours cover. Instead, those in need are automatically referred to a local emergency veterinary centre, although Southside does provide a business WhatsApp number that clients can use.
The practice is open seven days a week: weekdays from 10am to 7pm, from 10am to 6pm on Saturday and 10am to 2pm on Sundays.
With Jon currently the only vet, it is a lot of work, but it is clearly work Jon enjoys.
He added: “Having thought about doing this for many years, I am really happy that I have finally done it and taken that step into ownership. I wish I had done this years ago.
“There is a lot of work for me at the moment but that should ease off when we get a second vet and I love the work and meeting the clients anyway; it is such a fulfilling way to earn a living.
“Famous last words, perhaps, but there are no plans to open a second site or grow massively, this is enough for me.
“I am happy and living in an amazing part of the world; Hong Kong is not just the skyscrapers that everyone thinks about, there is so much more than that; beaches, boat days, hiking and some awesome golf courses. So, while I am working hard, I still get the chance to relax and enjoy my life and who can ask for more than that?”
