13 Aug 2021
The co-founder of Vets4Pets, Tim Harrison, has launched Harrison Family Vets in Reading, with ambitious plans to open as many as 75 practices across the country by the end of the decade.
James Westgate
Job Title
Credit: Harrison Family Vets.
The man who set up White Cross Vets has returned to the sector to launch a new and independent veterinary group.
Tim Harrison built White Cross Vets into a business that operated 20 sites across the north and the midlands before selling to IVC Evidensia in 2018.
Now he is back in the sector with ambitious plans for Harrison Family Vets, which he has launched alongside operations director Kristie Faulkner.
The first practice opened earlier this month in Woodley, Reading, in a £350,000 investment that has initially created eight jobs.
The next practice will open later this summer in the midlands, before the group expands into the north-west towards the end of the year.
Harrison Family Vets is already searching for further properties across the north and south of England, with plans to open 75 practices by the end of the decade.
Mr Harrison said: “The whole ethos at Harrison Family Vets is about fostering a culture within our team that sets us apart and differentiates our practice from all others. Every individual’s strengths and personality traits will contribute to what we do, in a family-orientated environment.
“Our culture is about looking after people – focus on attracting the very best people and then look after them as much as possible. A successful practice with a fabulous reputation among the profession and among clients is what automatically follows.”
Mr Harrison also described how the team has worked hard to create a customer experience that is “more akin to an Apple store” than a traditional veterinary practice.
He added: “We don’t have a reception desk and instead, our front of house team has the autonomy to freely interact with our clients and their pets.
“Our waiting areas feature bespoke pods, which give clients their own space and offer pets privacy, therefore shielding them from the stresses of facing other pets in a traditional waiting room.”
Mr Harrison was a co-founder of Vets4Pets in 2001 before joining Mars to head the overseas growth of its Banfield business, then the world’s largest veterinary practice.
More recently he spearheaded the growth of White Cross Vets, which was repeatedly named as one of the UK’s best employers and secured a place in the Top 100 Sunday Times Best Small Companies to Work For league table for seven consecutive years.
