THE FIRST ever strike at a private veterinary practice in the UK has continued to escalate over the past week, as a petition in support of the workers has reached almost 50,000 signatures. 

Around 100 staff at Valley Vets, many of whom earn little more than the national minimum wage, have been on strike since July over poverty pay.

Valley Vets has four branches across Wales, including in Caerphilly and Ystrad Mynach. 

Most support staff (80 per cent) report regularly borrowing money to make ends meet and five per cent report having to use food banks.

A petition in support of these workers over salaries has garnered 49, 503 signatures at the most recent count. 

VetPartners, owned by £138 billion private equity fund BC Partners, claims it cannot afford to give the lowest paid workers at Valley Vets the real living wage of £12 an hour. But in 2023, the company allegedly reported gross profits of £553 million.

VetPartners says it is running at a loss despite reportedly having an extremely healthy cash flow, say Unite. 

Unite say this is because the company, which has more than 400 UK sites, has a policy of loading itself with debt to fund aggressive market expansion to increase its sale value.

BC Partners bought VetPartners for £700 million in 2018; the company is now worth an estimated £3 billion.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “No wonder VetPartners is being investigated by the Competition and Markets Authority.

"It is a private equity vulture buying up as many vet practices as possible and extracting profits by raising prices on pet owners and paying staff poverty wages.

“This is a business model that hurts animals and workers alike and Valley Vet’s workforce have had enough. They have’s Unite absolute support during these strikes.”

VetPartners has reacted to the strikes by closing its four satellite veterinary surgeries and moving all staff to its central hospital in Cardiff.

The company says this is necessary to review Valley Vets’ business future.

Unite, however, believes this is an attempt to intimidate the workforce into ending their dispute.

The Competition and Markets Authority is currently investigating VetPartners, Pets at Home, CVS Group, IVC, Linnaeus and Medivet for non-competitive practices.

The ‘big six’, which now owns 60 per cent of UK veterinary practices compared to just 10 per cent in 2013, have been accused of overcharging and exploiting pet owners and low paid staff.

At Valley Vets, prices have increased by around 25 per cent over the past two years, with staff reporting pressure from the company to charge pet owners for even the smallest of treatments.

Morale has also been impacted by an increase in the instances of ‘economic euthanasia’, which has been reported across much of the veterinary sector.

This is when owners have animals put down that would otherwise recover because they cannot afford treatments.

Unite regional officer Paul Seppman said: “The surgery closures are part of Valley Vets campaign to break the strike. Its actions are not only costing thousands in lost revenue but are clearly not in the interests of the animals that should be its first and foremost priority.

“Settling this dispute would barely dent VetPartners bottom line. It is choosing not to because it sees workers standing up for fairness as a threat to its exploitative business model.

Our members are deeply committed to the animals they help to care for, but they cannot carry on being taken advantage of by a company that’s only motivation is profit.

"This dispute will not end until an acceptable pay offer is put forward.”

The workers have taken approximately six weeks of strike action since July, with the most recent 24 hour strike taking place from 8am on Friday, September 13. 

A spokesperson for VetPartners said they were disappointed at the continued strikes, noting that during the most recent one on Friday, September 13, they were only able to provide an emergency service. 

The spokesperson continued: "During the recent industrial action at Valley Vets, we closed our branch surgeries at Ystrad Mynach, Caerphilly, Pentyrch and Gabalfa to consolidate resources at Valley Veterinary Hospital in Gwaelod y Garth so we could minimise disruption to services for our clients.

"Due to uncertainty over further industrial action, we have made the decision to keep our branches closed until the end of the year to help to minimise the risk of further disruption for our patients and our clients. These decisions are not taken lightly.

"We are incredibly grateful to those team members providing emergency care to ensure pets are treated during the strike action, and for the support we have received from the wider veterinary profession during this difficult time."