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SPVS announces 2024 Business Excellence Awards winners
An overall winner will be announced at SPVS Congress 2025.
Independent practices took the accolades across three categories.

The Society for Practising Veterinary Surgeons (SPVS) has recognised the achievements of three independent practices in this year’s Veterinary Business Excellence Awards.

Accolades were given across three award categories, each representing areas which SPVS works to support. An overall winner will be announced at SPVS Congress on Thursday, 30 January.

The winner in the Team & Self-development category is Pennard Vets Maidstone, part of the independent veterinary group Pennard Vets.

A member of the Federation of Independent Veterinary Practices (FIVP), Pennard Vets has made headlines for its innovations.

In 2021, Pennard Vets became the largest practice in the world to transfer into employee ownership within an employee ownership trust. This year, it opened the largest veterinary practice in the South-East and welcomed Serina Filler to its team as its first group clinical director.

The winner in the Leadership & Management category is Stellar Vets in Littlehampton, which was opened by David Hodges in January 2021.

Dr Hodges originally owned a large practice called Pet Doctors, before selling the business to a corporate group in 2010. When the business became more bureaucratic and profit-oriented, Dr Hodges launched Stellar Vets to provide more personal care for his clients.

The practice has been nominated for Petplan Vet of the Year on several occasions, becoming a finalist in 2022.

The winner in the Veterinary Start Ups category is Manchester Cat Clinic, owned by Ellie and Daniel Lee.

Founded in May 2023, Manchester Cat Clinic is a family-run, feline-only veterinary practice. It was the winner in the Management Category of last year’s SPVS Veterinary Business Excellence Awards and also won in several categories for the BestUKVets Awards 2024.

The practice is specifically tailored for the care of cats, meeting the specifications of International Cat Care’s Cat Friendly Clinic programme and providing an environment where cats will not encounter dogs.

As well as awarding accolades in these unique categories, SPVS will also name an overall winner at its forthcoming congress. The awards ceremony will follow an address from SPVS president Silvia Janská on Thursday 30 January.

SPVS Congress 2025 will be taking place at Hilton Birmingham Metropole from 30 January-1 February.

Image © Shutterstock

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FIVP Practice Matters podcast returns for Series 2

News Story 1
 The Federation of Independent Veterinary Practices (FIVP) has announced that its podcast, FIVP Practice Matters, will be returning for a second series next year.

The bi-weekly podcast will return on Tuesday, 14 January 2025 with an episode on sustainability with Alison Lambert. The second series will include a range of new and familiar guests sharing veterinary initiatives and news from independent practices.

The podcast is available on Spotify and will now also be released on Apple Podcasts. More details about FIVP and the podcast can be found on its website

Click here for more...
News Shorts
Further cases of H5N1 confirmed in Norfolk

APHA has officially confirmed that two more cases of H5N1 have been found on premises in Norfolk.

Testing confirmed that highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 was present at premises near Attleborough, as well as premises near Hingham in South Norfolk. The case near Hingham follows a slaughter on suspicion which was declared on 23 December.

A 3km Protection Zone and 10km Surveillance Zone have been implemented at each premises, and all the poultry on each premises will be humanely culled.

A third case has also been identified near Beverley in East Riding of Yorkshire.

APHA is reminding bird keepers to remain vigilant and follow biosecurity measures to prevent more outbreaks. Details on the current disease control zones and biosecurity guidance can be found on the APHA website.