Historic vets is again named best in Staffordshire by its loyal customers
A historic vet practice in Newcastle under Lyme has retained its title as the Best Vets in Staffordshire thanks to its loyal customers.
Charter Veterinary Surgeons stands on the town’s Queen Street where Thomas Mayer set up a veterinary hospital in 1815 – the year of Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo and almost 30 years before the Royal Charter set up the veterinary profession in 1844.
The practice, part of the Willows Veterinary Group, was awarded the accolade for the second year running by VetHelp Direct based on the online reviews of its customers.
It has been in its current building since 1953 and is headed up by Steve Calveley who started with Charter Vets in Congleton in 2002 after graduating from the University of Liverpool and has been at Newcastle since 2007.
He said: “It’s great to win for the second year running. It means a lot to the team here who really take pride in their work and always strive to develop relationships with the animals and their owners because we see them as friends. This is an affirmation that we are doing things the way we should, especially during the pandemic when it was very difficult because of the restrictions on meeting owners face to face.
“But even in those challenging circumstances they have supported us and said nice things about us and that is something we are very proud of and grateful for. Now society is opening up again it is easier for us to build those important relationship with owners and with their pets which we always try to treat as if they were members of our own family.
“Veterinary practice has changed so much over the last 20 years and there are many more diagnostic skills and medicines which are available now and conditions which we are able to treat which make for better outcomes.”
Among those satisfied customers are Carol and Pete Ikins, from Newcastle, whose 11-year-old Boxer-Staffie cross Henry is a regular patient and Carol said: “I just wouldn’t go anywhere else, my mum and dad used to bring our pets here and that goes back 60 years.
“It’s such a lovely practice and they’re all so caring and professional. I would never go anywhere else and I’ve recommended it to my friends and they haven’t regretted it either. I’ve had rabbits, gerbils, chinchillas and various dogs and they’ve been excellent with them all. When we lost our Border Collie Penny, who was 15, Steve wasn’t actually in but he rang us up a couple of days later and told us how sorry he was and that meant a lot. Henry has had a lot of problems with his back legs but he’s such a lovely gentle dog. We’ve got three grandchildren and he is brilliant with them.”
The Newcastle practice isn’t the only Willows practice to do well in the VetHelpDirect awards with Willows Veterinary Hospital in Northwich voted the Best Vets in Cheshire and Ashbrook Equine Hospital in Knutsford the Best Equine Vets in the UK for the third year in a row.
Willows Veterinary Group, part of VetPartners, offers a wealth of knowledge and expertise through a network of 23 small animal practices, a referral veterinary hospital, an equine hospital and a farm practice, located across Cheshire and into Greater Manchester, North Wales, the Wirral and Staffordshire. Willows is accredited by The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
(Main image: Pictured with regular patient Henry, from left, vet Katherine Athering, vet nurse Emma Booth, head of practice Steve Calveley and student vet nurses Emma-Jayne Mulliner and Amber Procter. Image by Steve Rawlins.)
