As part of the independent group’s continued growth, Laura Pearce, who joined Bishopton in 2021, is now a small animal sector partner and Alex Oliver, who has worked at Bishopton for seven years, is now a farm sector partner. The pair are both based at the group’s Ripon surgery and take the total number of partners to 11.
After graduating from the University of Nottingham in 2014, Laura worked in the centre of Nottingham for the next seven years, before returning to her northern roots. Laura has Advanced Practitioner status and is particularly passionate about orthopaedics and cruciate disease.
She’s also a pioneer of risk-based worm, flea and parasite treatments after revamping Bishopton’s Lifetime Care Club. The scheme, which is relaunching in June 2025, provides pets with a personalised parasite prevention plan depending on individual risk, rather than giving them recurring prescriptions, to reduce the harmful environmental effects of certain parasite treatments and minimise risks of product resistance.
Eight years ago, Alex also graduated from the University of Nottingham and then spent a year working as a herdsman on a large dairy farm in New Zealand. He returned home to Yorkshire in 2018 and joined Bishopton as a farm vet, with a particular focus on dairy work.
In their new roles, the pair will oversee a team of vets, nurses, vet techs and administration staff in their respective divisions, as well as being involved in a wide range of business functions including procurement, marketing, finance and sustainability.
Bishopton Veterinary Group was founded in 1943 and has six practices across North Yorkshire providing pet, farm and a widely respected specialist pig team. Sister companies, Bishopton Equine and RAFT Solutions, respectively provide equine veterinary services and international research, breeding, consultancy and training in sustainable food and precision livestock farming. The practice also takes referrals from across the UK and has an established Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) accredited veterinary hospital in Ripon. Its most recent practice opened in Thirsk in 2023.
Bishopton is also a founding member of XLVets which is a community of independently owned veterinary practices that works collaboratively for the greater good of the veterinary profession by sharing best practice, experience, knowledge and skills to define the highest standards of veterinary care.
Laura said: “After moving back from Nottingham, I knew I wanted to join Bishopton which has a long-established and very reputable name across North Yorkshire, and I’m extremely proud to become a partner in the small animal sector four years later.
“It’s also an opportunity to implement my strongly held beliefs, such as risk-based parasiticide treatments. This has been very well-received by both colleagues and clients alike. As part of this, we’ve now audited relevant environmental data from the animal health companies and now only stock and supply those that demonstrate the very lowest environmental impact.
“Another major development has seen us become an accredited ‘Zero Pain Practice.’ We’ve adopted new techniques and invested heavily in training for our team to maximise our knowledge around painkillers, as well as the options for managing chronic pain conditions and arthritis. This also means during surgeries we often use ultrasound-guided nerve blocks to manage pain, with continuous infusions to provide fast pain relief, as well as having up to date pain management protocols for all routine surgeries.”
Alex added: “It’s been a long-held ambition to become a partner at Bishopton, and it follows several years of planning, combined with guidance and mentoring from several existing partners. I also attended XLVets’ ‘Aspiring Owners’ programme, which gave me the inspiration and knowledge I needed to take the next steps.
“Becoming a partner is also part of our long-term plan to maintain our independence. This enables us to control our pricing structure, maintain our high service levels and ultimately puts us in charge of our own destiny, which all benefits both our clients and our team.”
Andrew Curwen, CEO at XLVets, said: “The appointment of Laura and Alex to partners at Bishopton is a superb example of effective succession planning in a well-known and successful independent practice.
“For a longstanding practice like Bishopton to be able to welcome the next generation of partners into its ranks is key to it being able to safeguard its independence. This means ensuring there are people who are willing and able to step up, and this is just one area where XLVets always works closely with our members to help them plan for the future. This involves sharing knowledge and experiences as well as creating strong alliances and developing a collaborative culture to ensure that the decades ahead are successful.”