Valley Vets, who have been under pressure for months since July in an ongoing pay dispute with more than 100 staff, have confirmed they are planning to close all four of their branches across Wales.
The company, who have two branches in Gwent in Caerphilly and Ystrad Mynach, as well as a further two in the Vale in Cardiff and Pentyrch, announced plans on Tuesday, October 15, to close all of these branches and move their services to the Valley Veterinary Hospital in Gwaelod y Garth near Cardiff.
A statement from VetPartners, who own Valley Vets, was issued on behalf of the practice leadership team.
Their spokesperson said: “We have today [Tuesday, October 15] informed our team members at Valley Vets that we will be permanently closing all our branch surgeries in Cardiff, Caerphilly, Pentyrch and Ystrad Mynach, and consolidating our services at Valley Veterinary Hospital in Gwaelod y Garth.
“Over the past four years, we have been experiencing an acute shortage of vets. By closing the branches, we will be able to make best use of our veterinary team, reduce our use of locum vets and make our practice more sustainable.”
The British Veterinary Union (BVU) in Unite had been leading the strikes against the company over their pay dispute, with a petition in support of these workers over salaries has garnered just shy of 50,000 signatures at the most recent count in September.
According to Unite, VetPartners said it is running at a loss despite reportedly having an extremely healthy cash flow.
Unite say this is because the company, which has more than 400 UK sites, has a policy of loading itself with debt to fund aggressive market expansion to increase its sale value.
BC Partners bought VetPartners for £700 million in 2018; the company is now worth an estimated £3 billion.
VetPartners reacted to the strikes by closing its four satellite veterinary surgeries and moving all staff to its central hospital in Cardiff in September, saying at the time that it would need to review Valley Vets’ business future.
VetPartners has previously expressed their disappointment at the strikes, which had led to the company only being able to offer emergency services on a number of occasions.
With the closure of the four branches, Valley Vets have noted that a number of jobs are likely to be put at risk.
Their spokesperson continued: “The closure of the branches means that, unfortunately, a small number of our employees in support roles are now at risk of redundancy.
“We understand this will be a difficult time for all the people affected but we want to ensure a sustainable future and to ensure that Valley Vets can continue to provide a great service to its valued clients in South Wales.
“Valley Veterinary Hospital will continue to focus on providing the best possible care of patients, as well as an out-of-hours emergency and critical care service for around 40 other practices. However, it will no longer be accepting referral cases.”
