The Co-operative Bank Agrees £10million Facility With Companion Care To Open 31 New Veterinary Practices
11 years ago
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28th February, 2013 20h45
A new £10million facility has been secured by Companion Care Vets to open more than 30 new veterinary practices across the UK.
The Co-operative Bank has agreed a £10million facility with Companion Care (Services) Ltd, to open 31 new veterinary practices, many of which will be in Pets At Home retail stores.
With an average of seven new jobs created at each veterinary practice it is anticipated over 200 jobs will be created over the next two years.
Jane Balmain, Managing Director of Companion Care said: “The success of our Joint Venture Partnership model has been proven by the continued success of our network of surgeries and our continued expansion across the UK. Our formula has already made us one of the UK’s leading providers of small animal veterinary services and we continue to buck the trend of flat growth in the sector.”
Companion Care was named as one of The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2012, becoming the first veterinary group to be awarded this accolade and is one of the largest employers of veterinary professionals in the UK.
A subsidiary of Pets at Home, Companion Care offers Joint Venture Partners a proven business model which allows them to develop their career as a veterinary director, with complete clinical freedom, and with the full backing of a team of experts.
Launched in 2001, turnover from the vets practices has grown over the last 12 years from £5m to over £57m with over 1,200 people employed.
Steve Bateman from The Co-operative bank’s Oxford corporate banking centre, worked closely with Companion Care to agree the facility.
He said: “Over 12 years Companion Care have continually developed and deployed a business model which has proven to be robust and incredibly successful. They have consistently opened new veterinary practices year after year and have ambitious plans for the future, which we are delighted to support.
“As an ethical provider it is also satisfying to support a company which helps people to set up their own business and create new jobs.”
The first surgery to benefit from this facility opened on 14th February and is located in Ballymena, Northern Ireland.
Companion Care was introduced to The Co-operative Bank by accountancy firm Mazars who provided corporate finance advice, with the support of Mazars’ Corporate Finance Partner, Stephen Harris.
Morgan Cole in Reading did the legal work for The Co-operative Bank and Grant Thornton's Thames Valley Transaction Advisory Services team undertook financial due diligence on behalf of the Bank.
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