Kent-based veterinary group Pennard Vets has started work creating a new state-of-the-art practice in Sevenoaks, which will be one of the largest and most advanced in the South East, as part of a £3.5 million investment programme that will also create new jobs in the town.
The employee-owned veterinary group, which has eight Kent practices, signed a lease on the 11,500 sq ft, three-storey former office building this summer and work is now underway on its transformation into a new cutting-edge veterinary practice.
The practice will offer separate dog, cat and exotic wards, a CT scanner, a dental suite and a privately accessed bereavement room, as well as housing the group’s 24-hour emergency hospital.
In addition, there will be team breakout areas and four meeting rooms with AV facilities, as well as a highly energy-efficient heating, cooling and ventilation system.
Work is due to complete next spring when the group will relocate from its current Sevenoaks practice, located approximately 100 metres away on Eardley Road.
Matthew Flann, a director from Pennard Vets, said: “This expansion follows years of planning and searching for the right premises, but when this building became available, we immediately knew it was right for us. It’s very modern with plenty of parking and is highly accessible, as well as being very close to our current practice.
“Crucially, it gives us an ideal layout, as well as being more than twice as big as our existing site. This means all our canine clinical work will be on one level, with two specialist dog operating theatres, a dedicated exotics ward, which is a big growth area for us, as well as a separate cat theatre and ward, which will be situated on its own in a quiet part of the building on the floor above.
“We’re also investing heavily to create an advanced CT scanning suite that will be operated by several newly appointed team members, which will further enhance the level of service that our clients benefit from.”
Matt added: “It will be a very modern facility that has been entirely designed around our patients. It will enable work to flow smoothly and efficiently, as well as giving us scope to grow our team further in line with our ongoing expansion programme, and as part of this, we’re already recruiting veterinary nurses across all our practices.
“Our expansion has accelerated significantly in the past two years since we transferred into employee ownership and became an employee ownership trust (EOT), meaning all employees are now stakeholders in the business, which also gave many of our colleagues the opportunity to help shape our new facility.”
The new practice will also feature a wide range of green technology and recycling initiatives, which is a key reason why Pennard Vets was the first veterinary practice in Europe to become B-Corp certified in 2022.
