VetPartners’ founder Jo Malone
VetPartners has leapt up to 66 in the 16th annual Sunday Times PwC Top Track 250 league table as it prepares to celebrate its fifth anniversary.
The league table, which ranks Britain’s mid-market private companies with the biggest sales, prior to the covid-19 pandemic, sees VetPartners move up 183 places from last year’s position of 249.
VetPartners is the highest ranked veterinary business in this year’s league table after securing sales of £261.7m and an operating profit of £35m for the year ending June 2019.
The veterinary group was founded in 2015 by vet Jo Malone, who was previously a director at The Minster Veterinary Practice in York. It celebrates is fifth anniversary on October 31.
After building a firm base of small animal veterinary practices, VetPartners then expanded to the equine, farm and mixed veterinary practice market.
It now has 140 veterinary practices and 5,514 employees working in more than 400 sites across the UK and from its headquarters in York.
In 2019, the group expanded into Europe with the addition of five veterinary practices in Italy and is anticipating further growth in both Italy and France this year. The group also diversified to include a small animal veterinary nursing school, an equine nursing school, laboratory, research dairy and locum agency.
Mrs Malone said: “After breaking into the top 250 last year, our advance up the table is really positive news and reflects the considerable progress we continue to make as a business.
“The significant improvement in our ranking reflects not only our strong financial performance, but the importance of responding to ever-evolving demands of clients. We are committed to providing an excellent experience for clients and outstanding care for patients, as well as being a great place to work, which is the foundation of success.
“Due to covid-19, this has been an incredibly challenging year for many businesses, including those in the veterinary industry, and I am incredibly proud of our practice teams who have worked under difficult circumstances.”
VetPartners’ expansion is supported by international investment company BC Partners.
The veterinary group provides centralised support tailored to individual practice requirements in areas from HR to finance, payroll, IT, operations, business development and marketing.
