Companion Care Vets To Launch Standalone Surgery Division

Companion Care Vets, one of the UK’s leading veterinary groups, is to launch a new division to focus on developing a standalone joint venture surgery network across the UK. The new division will operate in parallel with the current in-store joint venture surgery operation. The company currently has 66 surgeries, 62 of them located inside Pets at Home stores, and the remaining 4 operating as standalone surgeries. The company plans to more than double the number of surgeries over the next 5 years. The new standalone surgeries will be branded Companion Care Vets and will be full service practices featuring the latest equipment including digital x-ray machines. As with the in-store surgery sites, the focus will be on superb locations with easy access for clients and their pets. Managing director, Jane Balmain, said: “The in-store model we operate has been very successful and offers a unique business proposition based around the customer footfall in Pets at Home stores. We will continue to accelerate the growth in numbers of in-store surgeries as the Pets at Home store footprint expands. “While in-store has been hugely successful and the driver in our growth, we know that there are many vets and veterinary nurses who are interested in a joint venture partnership but whose preference is to have a more traditional looking standalone surgery. To enable us to launch partnerships with these professionals we are developing a standalone surgery network plan. We already have 4 very successful standalone surgeries and we feel now is the right time to develop the stand alone concept as a mainstream business proposition.” While the new surgeries will be standalone in their own right, due to the unique relationship Companion Care Vets has with Pets at Home, the surgeries will be affiliated with local Pets at Home stores. This will help to drive client registration and business development and further enable Pets at Home to develop the full pet care experience for its customers. Jane added: “ These stand alone surgeries will offer a unique business proposition due to our Pets at Home relationship. We believe that with this new venture we can offer any potential partner the best of both worlds: a superb in-store surgery with footfall of thousands of customers a month, or a standalone new surgery linked to local store(s) to develop the business. I don’t believe any other company can offer this unique proposition.”

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