Pet owners: are you aware that more than half of the UK’s Veterinary Practices are owned by Private Equity and other investors?

28 comments

1. I think this is something most people know.

   Even cheery Peter Wright of Yorkshire Vet on TV sold out to medivet, part of why Julian Norton is now a partner in Rae, Bean and co in Boroughbridge.

   We use our only local independent in York and get on well with David.

   But.

   There’s no legal requirement for a person to be able to continue in their business. Businesses thrive or fail on being a relevant market offering.

   If it’s not profitable to stay independent then they sell up.

   There’s nothing to stop the entire vet sector going corporate.

   The only thing that could come into play is the competitions commission acting to stop one single provider of care taking over the market.

   This was seen when sky was blocked from buying some businesses as they’d have a market monopoly.

   As long as the corporate suppliers meet the basic legally required standards then they can operate.

2. Why are vets selling their business to private equity firms in the first place? (Or to large companies in general as it seems only 3 of the 6 are owned by private equity)

   Sounds like we need to undo the labour legislation from 1999

3. Owning a pet is expensive the larger or more exotic the pet is. Expecting cheap prices is naive as is expecting vets to provide a low cost service.

   I’m not surprised that half of vets are owned by private equity they have the funds to purchase and invest.

   We had to use a couple of back water vets previously where opening times were few and sporadic. The vets were mainly at farms where the money was. Then a large chain vets opened 7 miles away. We can get them in the phone pretty much anytime. They open at times that means I can get there before or after work.

   The vets itself is modern, clean and professional. Plenty of room and split into dog and cat areas so our cat doesn’t have to be traumatized every visit.

   Yes it’s more expensive but by an amount that is less that the value of the extra service I’m getting.

   I apologise for not fitting the angry narrative of the topic here!

4. Tbh I’ve been with Medivet for years and never had any problems with the quality of care. It’s actually useful having veterinary offices that are linked up. My little local Medivet is connected to the larger 24 hr hospital a bit farther away. Their records are on the same system, and they share some of the same staff as well. Whatever’s happening at the higher corporate levels, the vets and staff themselves have always been lovely, professional, and caring.

   I read through a few of your links and I’m struggling to find actual details about how larger companies buying up formerly independent vets has been materially bad. And some of the research is really poor, like this claim on the Dog Listener site about how pets are dying earlier on average, according to a survey that…

   > …was commissioned by the Kennel Club. What the KC discovered was that dogs were dying 11% earlier over a ten years period from the last research. That means that across all the breeds, Kennel Club registered dogs now live on average of 10 years, down from 11yrs 3 months in 2004.

   Kennel Club registered dogs represent a minority of the number of dogs in the UK and because most of them are pedigree they’re dogs who are at the endpoint of hundreds of years of fucked-up inbreeding and are prone to health problems anyway.

   And all the complaints about vets “selling out” or their prices going up – listen, pay for vets is shit considering how much schooling they require and how stressful the job is, and if anything vets are undercharging for treatment. I think because we have the NHS we don’t realize just how much it costs to keep a building staffed with medical professionals and expensive equipment and medication. If you’re a practice owner then you have to basically balance two exhausting full-time jobs: being a veterinarian and running your own business. I can see why a lot of vets are deciding to let someone else do the second job.

5. So I used to work for a software company that only wrote software for independent vets. I have a good inside to this issue unfortunatly.
   The sheer amount of vets that get offered (no exaggeration) over double the business worth, to the owner, it’s no wonder they accept. We dealt with them being bought out every week.
   There are a lot popping up here and there, but they get offered of buy outs just as fast as new ones pop up. It’s scary

6. I didn’t think there was any money in veterinary medicine. I guess the reason for the consolidation is that the margins are so low?

   People want pets but don’t want to pay for them.

7. Had no idea this was the case.

   We moved from one practice to another after a horrible experience with one of our cats. Having just done some research it seems the new place is medivet.

   However, I have had zero issues with them over the last 3 years. They’ve always provided a great standard of care, they know what they’re doing and most importantly, they do what they say they will and communicate well.

   Yes. It’s more expensive but it’s worth it when the cat comes home looking healthy and happy.

8. Mine sold out to a PE fund last year. If anything I think prices have actually gone down a bit

9. My dog goes to Vets4Pets which is, according to the blurb, a network of joint-venture vetinary practices co-owned by individual veterinary professionals.

   If my dog is okay and is just going in for her vaccinations then it’s a nice 20 minute walk through the park to get to. If not, there’s a bus that drops me right outside. It’s also always easy to get an appointment. I have no transport so being able to get her there has to factor in to the decision more than corporate ethics.

10. My partner works at a vet, it’s a terrible industry.

    Vets in the UK is owned by 1 of 6 companies as you mention. A lot of “independents” may not be as they do not have to change their name or inform their clients if they are purchased.

    All the equipment and drugs used are the same as humans, so in a way Vets is a good reflection of what the UK would look like without NHS. Money goes to investors and higher ups rather than staff.

    Vet Nurses are required to have 3 years of training and average at a salary of £20k a year. Vets require 5 years of training and average salary between £30k-£40k. The average age of retirement from the Vet industry is 30, and has one of the highest suicide rates. Her current workplace has increased their prices 3 times in the last 2 years and not given any raises to staff.

    There is a shortage of staff across the UK as low pay and poor conditions are driving people out. They overbook appointments and ops leading to a lower quality of care, then guilt you into working extra hours if you want to provide a better quality of care for animals. They exploit your love of animals to gain higher profit.

    The industry is in crisis now, owners with pets doubled during lockdown, while staff continues to decrease either via Brexit or worklife quality driving people out.

    Happy to answer any questions, I’ve had almost 10 years of hearing about the industry.

11. Animals are really expensive to look after. Like taking your dog to the vet once a year for a minor condition can easily cost as much as feeding it for the same time period.

    It breaks my heart when animals have owners who clearly can’t afford the bills, and they end up developing all sorts of painful conditions that nobody will treat.

12. Now aware, still couldn’t care less to be honest.

    All of my supermarket shopping is from stores owned by the same investors, heck through my ISA and pension I own some of them myself.

13. Our vet practice is owned by a chap (one of the vets) in his 70s and I’m dreading his eventually retirement. Cheaper than the chain-store vets by a good margin, and on the occasion where we needed it, they were happy to accept payment in instalments. The staff are all lovely and obviously care about the animals under their care. The owner has turned down several offers to buy the practice and/or building out but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before we’re stuck paying higher prices for worse care.

14. Of course they are… Anything’s for sale and everyfuckingthing’s a commodity. Lovely world we managed to build.

15. Is there anything in the UK that isn’t owned by Private Equity, Arabs or the Russians? I guess maybe the Royal estates.

16. So what? A vets degree is 5 years full time, depending on circumstances that could easily be £90k in student debt (tuition and maintenance loans). If this gives vets more money then good luck to them.

    If there’s something we should be getting angry about it’s people who get pets but can’t afford to look after them.

17. The costs should be covered by the NHS. It’s ridiculous that it isn’t.

18. Our local vets got bought out, they cranked up all the prices, all the staff left or were driven out, and the quality plummeted through the floor. Classic crapitalism at work

19. I buy my groceries from corporations, my clothes from corporations, my car, my furniture etc etc.

    We rarely use local independent businesses these days, why does it matter just because it’s a vet?

20. This is happening all over the country and in multiple industries.

    Its exactly what happens, especially with capitalism.

    More companies realise they can step into other markets, they buy up smaller or private businesses and then drop the prices at a loss to push others out of business until there is nothing but large corporations left. Then they tend to price gouge and increase the price to a market cap.

    Co op is a great example of this with corner shops, they are expanding non stop and are everywhere now, in comparison to when i was a kid and most corner shops were privately owned.

    Obviously this is a generalisation and its not this simple, but you see the picture. If you look at other industries its happening everywhere and soon we’l be left with just mega corporations fighting it out.

21. Yes.

    An NHS for pet owners would be a great thing, a sort of contribution scheme. Veterinary medicine is expensive as fuck, it can be made a lot cheaper.

22. As discussed above, have no problem with it. Small business owners such as Vets and GPs are equally money minded relative to large corporates. Large corporates typically lower prices (eg Tesco vs local cornershop) due to greater purchasing power on supplies, drugs, and can also offer better customer service with better IT. Local vets and GPs have absolutely shitty technology (call at 8am to get an appointment), this industry is ripe for some disruption and I love it.

23. You assume that having a pet is a right, it isn’t.

    A pet is a family member that you personally choose to get and obviously incurs expenses. If you can’t afford paying for vet expenses/vet insurance then you shouldn’t have a pet.

    Just to see how the situation is ridiculous, there’s people here who think adding pets to the NHS is a great idea.

24. Only a few years ago nobody had pet insurance. Now everyone’s expected to have pet insurance.

    What’s the first question when you go to the vet’s with a sick animal? “Have you got insurance?” The approach to care is very different if you have/haven’t got it.

    It’s a borderline scam.

    I’ve not got insurance for any of our animals (dogs, cat, chickens and more) and never have because it’s a total ripoff.

25. It’s actually much easier and cheaper to get your pets seen than a human.

26. From your description, it sounds like prices are increasing simply because of supply and demand.

    Being stuck between a rock and a hard place is high demand and low supply.

27. Our cat had a chronic respiratory infection a couple of years back. Just a cough that came and went. We have a vet that is part of a national chain (Vets 4 Pets).

    Vet did a whole battery of tests on our cat, including putting him under and filling his lungs with fluids to test for asthma. I think that’s what they did. They also performed an x-ray and a couple of other tests, one of which involved extracting fluids from our cat’s throat with a needle. He had to be sedated for that, he was having none of it.

    Turns out our cat did not have asthma and in the end all he needed was a course of antibiotics, which cleared it right up.

    Thank fuck we had pet insurance because that bill came to around £1100. Luckily we only had to pay £60.

    If it had been me with the respiratory infection and I’d gone to a doctor, I can guarantee that the very first thing that doctor would’ve tried was a course of antibiotics to see if that cleared it up. But for a cat? Nope, full battery of tests first. Maybe antibiotics are dangerous for asthmatic cats or something – I’ve no idea.

    Another time (same vet) we asked for a clean & polish of our cat’s teeth because he had gingivitis. They absolutely *insisted* on x-raying him first, even though he had no other problems. It was just red gums. Insurance didn’t cover that one so we were out £400. We brush his teeth at home once a week now.

    Point is, you’re probably onto something. I’m not saying I want to skimp on my cat’s healthcare but I also don’t want to be fleeced.

28. There has been a huge change in the expectations of care for pets over the past decade or so, which makes it hard for small independent practices to compete. People expect to have their pets seen at short notice 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with immediate access to knowledge, medications and expensive equipment. Small practices with 1 or 2 vets simply can’t provide this service. The number of complaints and amount of abuse is also rising exponentially. Vets aren’t just ‘selling out’ for money, we’re exhausted, and the backing of large companies is needed for the levels of service people are expecting for their animals.