Our response to the CMA’s recently announced Market Investigation

On 12 March 2024, the Competition and Market’s Authority (CMA) published its main concerns following an initial review into the veterinary sector. This includes:

• Customers may not be given enough information to choose the best veterinary practice or the right treatment for their pet’s needs.
• Larger, corporate-owned entities dominating local markets, thereby limiting customer choice.
• Customers might be overpaying for medicines or prescriptions.

We respect and fully support the CMA’s decision to proceed with their investigation into veterinary services for pets in the UK, and in response to this, we wanted to take the opportunity to give an insight into our business, our values and ways of working.

We’re proud to have been founded as a family-owned, independent practice. Dr Rob Jones MRCVS opened the very first The Pet Vet surgery in Doncaster in 2011 and, to date, we have 12 surgeries in different parts of the country, branded as The Pet Vet and The Vet. Today, Rob is still actively involved in ensuring his founding vision and values are sustained; and he continues to invest in our surgeries so that we can develop our products and services to meet the needs of the pets in our care. 

According to the CMA, over 60% of veterinary practices now belong to large, corporate, private equity owned groups; an increase up from 10% a decade ago. However, Rob is steadfast in his resolve for The Pet Vet to remain in his family; always.

As we’re not governed by a corporate entity, this gives us the ultimate flexibility to be able to tailor everything we offer to suit the needs of our individual communities. This includes our fair value pricing, which is reviewed quarterly. Unlike 80% of surgeries checked by the CMA, we publish this information on our website. Every customer receives an estimate for their pet’s recommended treatment, and we receive customer consent before any treatment commences. We understand the challenges posed by the cost-of-living crisis and consider it our ethical duty to maintain full transparency around the cost of our products and services.

We invest in our surgeries to ensure we’re able to offer more advanced treatments and unlock the use of new technology to further enhance our customer service and patient care. Rob says: “Our aim is to deliver exceptional clinical standards in state-of-the-art surgeries, whilst maintaining a caring, compassionate environment that is reassuring for our customers and calming for our pets.”

We are proud of our heritage and reassured by Rob’s drive to maintain independence for our group of surgeries. We will engage openly with the CMA during their consultation process and hope the outcome of this means customers are provided with greater choice and transparency when it comes to the care of their much-loved pets.  

Dr Mel Fuller - CEO