Veterinary Business | Veterinary Events and Conferences

Centaur’s new Community of Practice to help independent practices prosper

vetreportMay 28, 2015

Leading veterinary wholesaler Centaur Services is hosting a series of roadshows to launch a new service for independent veterinary practices, Community of Practice, which is designed to provide commercial support to help practices overcome the challenges posed by online and larger, multi-site competitors.

The Community of Practice will be delivered by leading veterinary consultancy, Vet Dynamics. It is a unique service to Centaur customers in which they have the opportunity to participate in a benchmarking, indexing and analysis process designed to improve every aspect of practice performance. The service will be focus on creating tailored, practical advice and support for each practice as a result of on-going analysis of their business data. It includes quarterly one-to-one business consultancy sessions as well as quarterly member meetings where like-minded vets can get together to debate issues, discuss solutions and share best practice.

By analysing monthly data automatically retrieved from a practice’s practice management system, Community members will be provided with invaluable insight and advice on all areas of the business, including clinical performance, finance, marketing, industry trends and the competition. There will be a particular emphasis on setting strategies to maintain and grow independent businesses in the face of stiff competition from online retailers and larger corporate veterinary chains.

“Centaur succeeds because we help our clients’ businesses to prosper and we believe that adding the Community of Practice to our portfolio of services will add real value to the independent practices we work with,” said Centaur’s Sales and Marketing Director Colm McGinn. “We understand how tough it can be for independents to keep pace with larger competitors and compete with the convenience and low prices of online businesses. The beauty of this new service is that customers not only get tailored analysis and practical advice including regular one-to-one consultancy sessions, they also become part of a supportive community of practices facing similar challenges. We’d encourage anyone who’s interested in finding out more about the Community of Practice to come along to one of our roadshows.”

The Community of Practice roadshows are taking place during June and early July, will run from 9.30 am until approximately 5 pm. Delegates will hear talks on competition and corporatisation, work-life balance, improving practice finance and performance, and the changing job role of a vet. Refreshments are provided. To book your place, please contact community@cvws.co.uk or click on the following link for more information and a printable booking form: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9GzWG7XLzQxWmFzR2RRMXYwNHM/view?usp=sharing&pli=1

1 June: The Castle, Taunton

2 June: Village Urdan Resort, Coventry

3 June: Menzies Hotel, Cambridge

4 June: Radisson Blu Edwardian, Guildford

16 June: Village Hotel, Swindon

30 June: Holiday Inn Chester South, Chester

7 July: Mercure White Hart Hotel, Salisbury

For more information on joining Centaur Services call 01963 350005 to arrange a visit, or for existing customers, contact your Territory Manager.