A Brief History of Parkvets
by Graham Peck
The Beginning
Parkvets was established as a single handed small animal clinic situated in Chislehurst, Kent in 1979. Though the number of veterinary surgeons increased to three the practice remained based at a single site until 1991.
There followed a period of sustained expansion with six additional clinics being established over the next nine years. This has resulted in Parkvets now being the largest veterinary group in South-East London employing over 16 vets and 30 nurses.
The Hospital
In 1997 the Chislehurst clinic was relocated to Footscray where a 6000 sq ft former builders merchants was stripped down to a shell and completely refurbished to provide hospital standard facilities and an administrative centre for the group. The rationale for this move was to provide exceptional technical and hospitalisation facilities at one site, which would not have been possible, had we remained based at a smaller site. Development was completed in early 1999 and shortly afterwards the coveted hospital status was granted after an independent inspection by the British Veterinary Hospitals Association. The Footscray site is the only veterinary hospital in South-East London and received the recognition in acknowledgement of the high standard of facilities and service offered there.
The Clinics
The other clinics of the group are to be found at Swanley, Longfield, Belvedere, Bexley, Eltham and Mottingham. These were established as one or two vet clinics where consultations and routine surgical procedures can be carried out. Pets that have more serious conditions requiring special investigations or hospitalisation can quickly be transferred by our private pet ambulance to the Footscray hospital.
Becoming a Client Focussed Business
Any business that undergoes a period of rapid expansion faces significant administrative challenges and a complete restructuring of the practice took place in 1999. The traditional partnership style management was dissolved and Parkvets became a limited company. This allowed a more structured approach to many of the complex management issues to be undertaken. Managers could be appointed to key areas such as client care, reception, nursing, veterinary personnel and administration. Additional expertise was obtained by the utilisation of consultants for financial planning, marketing and human resources.
This has been accompanied by rolling refurbishment program of all our clinics to improve the facilities for clients and employees. A new Parkvets logo and branding have helped strengthen the Parkvets image and public awareness in south-east London and Kent.
Expectations of the veterinary profession have risen enormously in the last decade. We believe that the efforts described demonstrate our commitment to a more professional approach to meet those expectations. From independent client surveys it would appear that Parkvets has achieved its initial goals of providing the highest standard of veterinary care and customer service. We look forward to the new challenges ahead of us.
