ATTENTION - INDEPENDENT VETS

STOP OVERPAYING

FOR MEDICINES

Discover a way to buy supplies for your Independent Veterinary Practice at fairer, more accessible prices that won’t impact the growth of your business.

Why listen to us?

About the Veterinary Independent Purchasing Group

Some years ago, while I was running my own successful Independent Veterinary Practice, I remember a staff member telling me the above. I was embarrassed that they had gone behind my back to buy the medicine for our practice, but I was also secretly relieved because I knew it would actually benefit us better as a business.

From this uncomfortable conversation, the idea of the Veterinary Independent Purchasing Group (VIP Group) was born. The aim of the VIP Group is to help independent veterinary practices receive better discounts and buying opportunities available to their practice, by purchasing direct from the suppliers of their medicine. In doing so, they’ll be able to provide better care for their customers, and unlock hidden profits within their businesses that were virtually non-existent up until now.

This shouldn't be the norm and you deserve better.

“I bought medicine for our practice online as a consumer – because it was cheaper than buying it as a business.”

Understand the actual cost of your supplies.

For years, your independent veterinary practice may have simply put up with overpaying for essential supplies from a buying group. As a member of these groups, you have very little control over the price you pay or the products you have access to as a practice. But what does this actually mean for your clients, your patients, and you as the owner?

Prescriptions

The rising costs have meant that it is becoming less and less financially viable for veterinary practices to get ahold of essential medicines. Ultimately, you want to provide the highest level of care for your clients, but this can usually come at the price of margins.

Food Supplies

It’s not simply the medicine that can be expensive, it’s also the food you buy in as well. This can either mean that you either overpay for essential food supplies, or opt for a cheaper alternative that may not be as nutritive. If opting for the former, your margins suffer. If opting for the latter, your patients suffer. In either case, your veterinary practice is on the losing end of both deals.

Services

With the control over buying opportunities that many large corporations have, it can often mean that the supplies you want are simply more difficult to get ahold of. This can mean that you’re often simply “taking what you can get”, as opposed to finding the medicine and food supplies that are the absolute best fit for your patients.

With the Veterinary Independent Purchasing Group (VIP Group), we aim to change the way independent veterinary practices pay for their medicine. By focusing on the priorities of the veterinary practice, rather than the priorities of large corporations, we want to help vets all over the UK get ahold of their supplies in a more affordable, financially viable way. In turn, we hope to unlock hidden profits in their businesses that may have up until now been non-existent, and give them an avenue for growing their practice more effectively.

Ross Kelly

Founder - The Veterinary Independent Group

Working with and for you...

Who does the Veterinary Independent Group Help?

INDEPENDENT VETERINARY PRACTICES

Each independent veterinary practice differs slightly from one another, and it’s these unique qualities that can make your practice so special. Yet as a group of businesses, we are often treated as one and the same by the corporations and buying groups supplying our medicine. This can leave us with buying opportunities where we often must take what we can get, rather than what we need.

MANUFACTURERS

The manufacturers are massively supportive of what we are doing, as they can see that if they don’t support independent vet practices, the landscape will change forever including their businesses, as there will be only a few very large clients running the profession. If we support these key manufacturers, we will protect the future of the independents and the bespoke personal services they provide.

ALLIED INDUSTRIES &

KEY SUPPLIERS

We will continue to foster the relationships we have already built with a whole range of suppliers, from pharmaceuticals manufacturers, to equipment, consumables, surgical instruments & implants, disinfection & cleaning, CPD & training providers & even finance, as we believe that business is about people & relationships it’s also for the long term for us, for you & for those who work with us.

What can you expect when you join the VIP Group?

The VIP Group doesn’t simply offer benefits in the form of lower supply expenses. It also offers an opportunity to continue growing your vet practice, safe in the knowledge that you’re providing a high level of care to your clients and their pets in a way that’s viable for you.We don’t believe that the simple necessity of providing care to your client base should come at the expense of your business growth. And as a founding member of the VIP Group, we want to offer you an opportunity to shift this narrative that has unfortunately become so common within the industry.

Apply to join today, and start experiencing the joy of a successful, sustainable veterinary practice where the power of the buying collective is back in your hands. Don’t forget either - as a founding member, you will also have the opportunity to share in the profits of the business each year, as our way of saying thank you for being with us from the beginning.

It's time to work with a true buying partner that will

Stop the negative cycle.

With the rising cost of the products and services you provide, it can lead to a disgruntled client base that voices their unhappy views towards vets. We know this isn't fair and we're here to support you in providing the best possible prices.

Decreased Profits

As the owner of an independent vet practice, you may often find you have to resort to “loss leading” on your prescriptions, or simply reducing your margins in order to pay for the supplies you need. However, we don’t think that business growth should come at the cost of providing essential services.

Compromise

The additional rebates available through our co-operative go straight onto your bottom line, meaning YOU can choose how to best utilise the increased available cash- whether that be expanding your team, buying that new piece of equipment, or even taking your family on the holiday or getting a new car you owe yourself.

Lower Standards

Through the decrease in profits that your practice has to absorb, this may have knock-on effects for other areas of your services. The high cost of supplies is not usually an independent factor - it often comes with a host of accompanying issues.