As progressive, independently-owned, veterinary practices, members of XLVets work collaboratively sharing knowledge, experience and skills, to offer excellence in practice to deliver a high level of customer care and animal welfare.
The ethos of the group is that business ownership, and therefore all decision-making, is veterinary led and in the hands of the people who work within their practice. XLVets exists to ensure that member practices can leverage the advantages of scale and process management that can be obtained with bigger structures, but not to do this at the expense of absolute control.
XLVets is an organisation of its members, for its members. XLVet UK Ltd. is a private limited company. Each member practice owns one share and elects a board of directors. There are four columns of executive activity – equine, farm, pets and business management. A member from each practice sits on each executive team and brainstorms opportunities and challenges and develops strategy.
XLVets is in a truly unique position to facilitate genuine collaboration between independent veterinary practices. XLVets member practices are veterinary practices owned by vets that employ and consult with business people, rather than business people who employ vets. XLVets seeks to be the first choice for buyers and suppliers to veterinary practices.
We are always looking to recruit new member practices who will complement our current membership:
- We are looking for proactive, entrepreneurial practices who recognise our changing industry and are keen to ensure we have a thriving profession of veterinary-owned practices
- We are looking for a positive attitude and a strong commitment for collaboration
- We are looking for skillsets in delivering clinical and customer excellence and a desire to be the best they can
- New practices will be willing to engage with the XLVets values
- New members will be located in an area which is complementary to existing members
What XLVets means to our members
Our Values
Our Mission
- To provide leadership for the collaborative community of practices, setting standards for members and championing collaborative enterprise and spirit
- To provide exceptional service delivery that:
- Provides the support required to allow vets to choose to be business owners and decision makers
- Supports the professionalisation of the management of veterinary practice
- Facilitates inspirational and relevant activity that ensures profitable practices within the framework of the five pillars
Learn more about us by viewing our XLVets brochure:
In order to deliver Excellence in Practice, we work with five strategic pillars:
This is the glue that binds XLVets members together. Through working as an extended national team, sharing ideas and experiences, all XLVets members can benefit from the resources contained within the group. By being part of a national team of independent vets, you will have access to a wealth of information to support your practice on a daily basis. Furthermore through identifying common requirements, CPD can be arranged and delivered.
- Sharing of ideas and experience
- Web based forums
- A resource library and image gallery
- Practice exchange visits facilitated
- CPD
- Clinical audits
- Quarterly magazines for your customers – Small Talk, Equine Matters, Livestock Matters
It is the people of a practice that make it what it is. Our 'Thriving in Practice' initiative underpins everything we do, supporting the practice team and focussing on the well-being and mental health of everyone. By delivering opportunities for training and development, every member can develop their own skills. Moreover, by looking to the future, XLVets seeks to encourage the best new applicants for a career with member practices as we create a great place to work.
Providing members with practical, proactive and participative CPD, to improve their skills and benefit practice businesses, is at the heart of the XLVets 'VetSkills' provision. As well as clinical CPD, a range of business courses are available to support both career progression and the needs of the independent practice; these include business skills training for new partners, a new graduate training programme, customer excellence training and modular management training courses.
- Subsidised clinical CPD
- Train the Trainer course
- First Line Manager programme
- Customer Excellence programme
- Leadership programme
- Practice Management team engagement and collaboration
- Thriving in Practice – mental health and wellbeing support
Working with veterinary universities, XLVets also provides a range of support to veterinary students, developing strong links with the vets of the future. XLVets practices aim to be ones that people aspire to work for!
The success of a practice is determined by how well it understands and meets the needs of its clients, and also by how well it communicates with them. XLVets membership gives you the opportunity to discuss your current business position, with your peers, who can help to identify the areas for growth within your practice.
The XLVets teams work together to offer real world, tailored solutions to help you develop your practice’s marketing and branding. The campaigns of activity the XLVets teams deliver, seek to provide tools to assist your practice to efficiently and effectively promote its services to your clients. The benefits of participating and contributing to the campaigns includes:
- High quality client literature and materials
- Shared client evening presentations
- National PR through press and social media
- High quality campaign partners such as World Horse Welfare and the Animal Health Trust
- KPI benchmarking - financial and clinical
Working as a team, XLVets members seek to drive down the costs of practice and improve the efficiencies of business operations through benchmarking and the sharing of ideas, initiatives and resources. XLVets is owned by its members, who work as a team to negotiate the best possible rates with suppliers and ensure that 100% of that discount is passed on to you.
You can take advantage of the Medicines Information Service, which allows you to go online at any time and check the net price of any product. As a team XLVet members routinely support each other with margin analysis and rebate checking, which helps ensure that you are getting exactly what you are owed by suppliers.
There are a number of other services XLVets members have identified as a support requirement, which they have actively sourced together:
- Purchasing – medicines and equipment
- Health & Safety provision
- HR and Employment Law
- Credit card payment provision
- Access to practice vehicles provision and fuel cards
- Insurance provision for cars and property
- IT support – website/e-marketing/SMS
- Marketing support
- PrintWorks - digital printing portal
- Branded practice clothing
- Laboratory services
The strength of the XLVets brand is heavily determined by its association with its member practices. XLVets aims to achieve high levels of positive brand awareness amongst its practices, clients, veterinary students and the overall animal health industry.
XLVets brand awareness is raised centrally through social media, the farming, equine and small animal client press and veterinary press and farming, equine and pet industry and veterinary professions overall. XLVets supports individual member practices to grow their individual brands under this umbrella.
- Brand awareness
- Marketing skills and training
- National presence at veterinary, farming and equine events
- Factsheets and promotional materials
- National publications - Livestock Matters, Equine Matters, Small Talk
- Group-wide support of national initiatives such as BVDFree England, National Johne's Management plan, Plan Prevent Protect and the Healthy Older Pet