Pennard Vets acquires Priory Lodge Vets
Dr Pye and Dr Brink will stay on to lead the Tonbridge practice
Priory Lodge Vets, formerly owned by two vet surgeons, Dr Abby Pye and Dr Dirk Brink, has been acquired by Pennard Vets in Kent.
Priory Lodge, founded 70 years ago, has a 20-strong team and more than 4,500 pets on its books.
It started as a mixed practice, moving to its current Pembury Road base from Bank Street in 1979 and became exclusively small animal in 2001, at which point it changed name to Priory Lodge Vets.
Dr Pye and Dr Brink will stay on to lead the Tonbridge practice.
The 1895-established Pennard Vets, which has seven locations throughout Kent, was founded in Sevenoaks and became an employee-ownership trust (EOT) in 2021, making all employees owners of the company.
In two years, the team has grown from 80 to 130.
Dr Pye and Dr Brink stated that the partnership with Pennard Vets will allow them to expand their range of services to their valued clients and will also allow them to focus more on the treatment of pets and surgery, with less time spent on administration and back-office work.
Dr Brink said: “With the same close-knit team, but a bigger support network and wider range of skills available from the team at Pennard Vets, it’s a positive move for us and our clients.
“Another big benefit of joining the group is it allows us to offer continuity of out-of-hours care, as night shifts have become more difficult to staff. Now we can more easily meet the expectations of pet owners when it comes to 24/7 care. We will, therefore, be able to carry out more major surgeries and intricate medical procedures here in practice.”
Vet Matthew Flann, of Pennard Vets, added: “We have always had a good relationship with Priory Lodge Vets, and when COVID hit, we started working more closely with them, assisting with OOH care, and we quickly found that our values were closely aligned between the teams.
“Dirk brings additional surgical strengths to our team, which our clients will benefit from, and Abby is a talented medic, with great clinical skills as well as a strong interest in cardiology, that will also be of huge benefit to the group. Priory Lodge Vets becoming a part of our popular EOT structure felt right for everyone involved and we are delighted to welcome its experienced team to the group.”
