Vets Eve Thomas and Sarah Parker recently won their bid to take ownership of a local practice. Keen to ensure they were capturing all the help available, they asked their veterinary contacts for tips. Two of their peers independently recommended contacting XLVets, which was a bit of a surprise as both Sarah and Eve were under the impression that the community was a corporate. Now they are the newest XLVets members and were excited to open Builth Wells Vets on Monday 5^th October, offering a more comprehensive service to farm, equine and small animal clients.

Eve Thomas

Both Sarah and Eve had discussed the potential for setting up a practice together, but it was only when Eve found out a local practice was for sale while she was on maternity leave that the project started to become a possibility. Now they are moving ahead, investing in new equipment including digital X rays and ultrasound, as well as redecorating and re-branding the premises. The aim is to expand reproductive services in particular, as top breeders in the area need to access ram and bull fertility testing and there is scope to work more actively to develop herd health plans. The equine side of the practice will also be expanded.The practice already has separate cat and dog wards and the practice will benefit from an expanded nursing team. The new owners are also keen to continue to upskill the whole team. Eve says the support they have received from XLVets throughout their journey has been hugely beneficial, “We were amazed at how much specialised support and experience we could receive from XLVets that would otherwise have been quite difficult for us to access, including HR help, assistance with CPD, clinical coaching and mentorship. Everyone we’ve had contact with throughout XLVets has a shared commitment to excellence and that’s exactly what we want to deliver at our new practice.”

Sarah Parker

Sarah explained, “It’s challenging opening the doors of a practice which is under new ownership, so being part of XLVets and being able to access a pool of experienced peers who have been on similar journeys is tremendously reassuring. We need to look to our own continued development as clinicians and leaders and being part of the XLVets community of practices helps us to do that. And of course, now we understand, we still make all our own decisions and we remain completely independent but with the wider support of other independent practices!”

Susan Goodfellow, Marketing Manager at XLVets says it’s a pleasure to be supporting two such enterprising vets, “Most people know that established practices can join the XLVets community but they often don’t realise that we support new start-ups too – and in fact we’re increasingly working with enterprising individuals, across all species, setting up for the first time. It’s good to see that even in the most challenging times, that people are striving to lead and achieve excellence.”