Corporate veterinary group, VetPartners, has acquired three of the country’s best-known veterinary practices in Cork, Wicklow and Monaghan.
The latest move now doubles the number of VetPartners’ practices in Ireland from three to six.
The following three practices are the most recent to join the veterinary group:
- Riverview Veterinary Group in Cork;
- Avondale Veterinary Hospital in Wicklow;
- All Creatures Veterinary Group in Monaghan.
About the practices:
Riverview Veterinary Group is one of the oldest mixed practices in Ireland after being established 75 years ago, with 52 team members working across clinics in Ballincollig, Kinsale, Carrigaline, Bandon and Clonakilty.
Avondale Veterinary Hospital, which is also a mixed practice, has three sites in Arklow, Rathdrum and Tinahely and employs 31 team members.
All Creatures Veterinary Group is a small animal practice with 34 employees working across four sites across Monaghan.
Dublin-based commercial law firm, Beauchamps, advised VetPartners on the three acquisitions.
About VetPartners
Led by vets, VetPartners was established in 2015 with three practices and now has 11,000 employees working in more than 700 sites – including small animal, equine, mixed and farm practices and animal healthcare companies – across Europe and from its headquarters in York.
Following European expansion in 2019, the group now has practices in Italy, France, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Netherlands and the Channel Islands.
Moreover, VetPartners diversified and now includes pet cremation services, an online retailer, a small animal veterinary nursing school, an equine veterinary nursing school, laboratories and a locum agency.
Because no two practices are the same, VetPartners “encourages its practices to embrace their independent spirit, while supporting them by investing in people, facilities, equipment and latest technology so they provide outstanding care for patients and an excellent service for clients”.
VetPartners aims to be a “great” place to work, focusing on the development and well-being of its people.
In 2022, the organisation was ranked the UK’s number one company for senior leadership by Glassdoor. It was also awarded a 1Star accreditation from Best Companies, reflecting ‘very good’ levels of workplace engagement.
In HLB Ireland’s recent ‘Veterinary Practice Survey Report 2023’, outlined that “younger vets are choosing the quality of life over full-time working with greater awareness that working too hard can cause serious longer term health issues”.
“Young vets are also less interested in buying into veterinary partnerships than in securing a senior role with good pay and conditions in an established clinic.”
“This is contributing to the trend of corporate veterinary groups buying independent veterinary clinics across Ireland,” the report highlighted.
McCoubrey comments
VetPartners Ireland managing director, Gavin McCoubrey, said:
“We are so proud that these three amazing practices have chosen to join us because they are so respected in Ireland.”
“They are a great cultural fit for VetPartners, and they share our values in the way they support and care for people.”
“They have really bought into VetPartners as a family of practices that wants to support them to deliver the best possible care for their patients and a great service for their clients, as well as being a great place to work.”
“Practice life is very special, and we really value the people that make them so.”
“Our growth in Ireland is exciting, and I believe the addition of Riverview, Avondale and All Creatures show how highly regarded we are and how much people trust in what we are building.”
Avondale Vets
Clinical director at Avondale Vets, Declan Ryan said: “We are very excited to join VetPartners as we love their business model, especially the fact that we retain our independence as Avondale Veterinary while having the backup of a large company.”
“Avondale Veterinary is at a stage now where it needs big investment in premises, equipment and, most of all, the team.”
“VetPartners are in a better position to make this a reality than we were. We are really looking forward to this new venture,” Ryan added.
All Creatures Veterinary Group
All Creatures Veterinary Group clinical director, Christopher Cronin, added: “We are happy to announce we have joined the larger VetPartners family of practices.”
“We made this decision to secure the future of our veterinary services and the future of our loyal employees.”
“Together, we will establish a prime service for the farming community of Monaghan and Cavan and our small animal clients. The investment of VetPartners will allow us to achieve our shared values, and we feel the future looks bright.”
Riverview Veterinary Group
Riverview Veterinary Group (RVG) clinical director Michael Sexton said: “We are delighted to be joining up with similar, like-minded practices within the VetPartners group.”
“We believe this will enable RVG to continue the strong growth we have achieved over the last few decades in general and the last five years, in particular.”
“We are excited about the plans for the future and the benefits this will deliver for our clients and team members.”
