Bill has set up Petworth Veterinary Centre along with Karen, his partner in life and in business. Despite large amounts of rugby and beer Bill managed to qualify from Edinburgh (Dick) Vet School in 1989. After 5 years in his first job at a very busy veterinary hospital, Bill set up Springfield Veterinary Group in 1994 in the nearby town of Midhurst. After a wonderful 24 years there Bill and his colleague, Charles Williams, sold the business in July 2018.
Bill has been working as a locum since then but was keen to work alongside Karen in a new project. Between them they have 5 grown up children and can often be seen walking their lurcher (Slug) around the local countryside.
Karen has come to the veterinary world relatively recently. She has spent over a decade working in 2 local private schools dealing with Admissions and Data Management. This involved meeting and greeting new parents and students....very similar to new clients and their furry 'children'. Karen has a soft spot for ginger cats (Slug the lurcher has two ginger pals, Wicker and Fudge) and is a keen Ultra runner. There are few trails in Hampshire and Sussex that she has not investigated and in 2015 she ran the 66 miles around the Isle of Wight. (She was the first woman to cross the line but has asked me not to put that in).
Charles first met Bill when they trained together in Edinburgh and they then ran Springfield Veterinary Group in Midhurst from 2000 to 2018. Charles brings a wealth of experience and skill to our team. He has worked in a variety of veterinary practices in his formative years and is highly proficient at all aspects of the job.
In amongst his busy working life Charles also manages to fit in wild swimming, running, kayaking, cycling, carpentry, trans-Atlantic sailing and gardening!
It is excellent news for Petworth Veterinary Centre that Charles has agreed to join us and strengthen the team.
We are delighted Lisa has agreed to join us, strengthening our team.
Lisa qualified from the Royal
Veterinary College in 1992. She started her career in Buckinghamshire but for
the past 18 years she has worked locally in Haslemere. She loves all aspects of
veterinary work and is at home with both medicine and surgery.
Lisa is married to Bruce, a local equine
veterinary surgeon, and they have three grown up children. In her spare time she
enjoys travelling, running and walking her terriers at Blackdown.
Sue has joined the team and brings with her skill, knowledge and experience. After qualifying from the Royal Veterinary College Sue has worked in a number of referral centres (with a specialism in Orthopaedics) and first opinion practices. She may be a familiar face to many of you as she worked with Bill and Charles in Midhurst for many years.
Since 2014 Sue has been educating the next generation of prospective vets as a Lecturer/Tutor at the University of Surrey Veterinary Faculty in Guildford..
Fortunately we have managed to entice her away from the dark side of Academia and back into the light of General Practice.
Winnie started her working career as a jeweller but her love for animals and an obsession for Great Danes and Tortoises led her to take a trainee job as a Nurse with Bill in Springfield Veterinary Group. After sailing through her exams Winnie stayed with Springfield for many years before travelling abroad. This trip involved a spell in the Galapagos Islands caring for Giant Tortoises. After a spell in New Zealand Winnie has more recently been working near Guildford.
Much of her spare time is spent on two wheels (both motorised and pedal power), wakeboarding and walking her dogs.
Jo has, unfortunately for her, worked on and off with Bill for 30 years. Initially this was in a busy Vet Hospital in East Grinstead and then she joined the team at Springfield Vets in Midhurst. Jo qualified as a nurse when working for the RSPCA in Putney and she retains a keen interest in animal welfare. When she is not working or running around after her family, Jo can be seen with her collies in dog agility arenas across the land, trying to remember which way to run around the course.
Clare has just qualified as Veterinary Nurse after completing her studies at a busy Veterinary Referral Hospital. Her route to qualification has been slightly unconventional and interesting, having worked full-time in a UK wildlife centre, an elephant rescue centre in Thailand, as well as becoming a qualified dog groomer, before pursuing nurse training.
Although she went to school in Worthing, Clare is very much a lover of wildlife and the countryside around her, enjoying horse riding, walking, dog agility and obedience. When not working as a nurse she can often be seen wrestling with her own small flock of sheep and training her new puppy.
Niki is a crucial member of the admin/reception team. She has always had a love of animals and joined Bill at Springfield Vets over a decade ago as a receptionist. Her role there grew to cover a range of administrative duties and she now brings those skills to Petworth Vet Centre. When she is not organising her family Niki can often be seen surrounded by Labradors as she walks up and down the Hangers near her home in Petersfield.
We are delighted that Carly has joined us.
She has a busy life….When here she is very versatile, working both as a Receptionist and also an Animal Nursing Assistant. When away from Petworth Vet Centre she looks after several horses for other people, has a passion for baking (and a phobia of tea bags!), as well as looking after her young family, 2 dogs, 2 cats, Guinea Pigs, rabbits, chickens…….!
Slug is the resident support dog. His idleness and lack of brain make him an easy companion to have around, although his conversational skills are a little disappointing. Despite this he is much loved!