Milestone For Joint Ventures - First Vets4Pets Opens In A Pets At Home Store

Cortonwood Opening, Nick Wood Chief Executive Pets at Home, The Mayor and Mayoress of Rotherham, Caroline Richards and Emma Venesky and their new team. The 26TH July saw the opening of Vets4Pets Cortonwood in Barnsley, the first Vets4Pets to open within a Pets at Home store since the merger in April. The practice has been opened by seasoned Joint Venture Partners Peter and Caroline Richards who have welcomed a third Partner into the business, Vet Surgeon Emma Venesky who will be taking a lead role in the practice. Peter and Caroline opened their first practice in Barnsley some 11 years ago, the fourth ever Vets4Pets, which has been a great success and grown from strength to strength. Ever the entrepreneurs, when Peter and Caroline heard that a new Pets at Home store was to open in the Barnsley area, they jumped at the chance to open their second practice, as keen business people having a in-store practice was a welcome challenge. “In my opinion a Joint Venture with Vets4Pets and Companion Care is the only way to enter a partnership. All the other options have far too high a financial out lay in the beginning with no real way of knowing what you’ll get out of it; whether partnering or setting up on your own. When you partner into a private practice you never really have complete autonomy” explains Caroline. Cortonwood Team, Peter and Caroline Richards, Emma Venesky and their new surgery team. Caroline added; “If I was to start up again, I would do it exactly the same. It became apparent to us that not only was the management advice essential but it was very cost effect and we quickly saw the profits outweigh the fees”. The practice was opened with an official open day at the same time as the Pets at Home store, which was also celebrating being the 350th store in the retail chain’s portfolio. Mark Welch, Group Operations Director, commented “We’re delighted to support Caroline and Peter on their second practice opening and of course welcome Emma as a new JVP. We are hugely excited to open under the Vets4Pets banner inside the 350th Pets at Home store.” “We wanted to open our own practice in the first place because we had strong opinions on driving standards and quality for our clients but also the industry. We wanted to be able to offer pets and their owners a full range of services so that we could care for them whatever their needs” says Peter. “I’m looking forward to seeing the challenges and of course the benefits of running a practice within a Pets at Home. The footfall the store will generate was already evident today [the open day] with the number of new clients we registered already!” Adds Caroline. This week, Peter and Caroline are also launching their Barnsley practice as a 24hr practice assisted by the Support Office business, finance and marketing services. A few practices within the group have decided to provide their patients with their own out of hours service and all have been supported by the business in their new ventures.

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