--- title: "Who owns your vet? UK corporate ownership guide — 2026" description: "Is your local vet owned by a corporate group? Our 2026 guide profiles the seven biggest UK vet groups, revealing their ownership, size, and prices." lang: en json-ld: | [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "WebSite", "name": "The Vet Price Comparison Site", "alternateName": "VetPrices", "url": "https://vetpricecomparisonsite.co.uk" }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Organization", "name": "The Vet Price Comparison Site", "alternateName": "VetPrices", "url": "https://vetpricecomparisonsite.co.uk", "logo": "https://vetpricecomparisonsite.co.uk/web-app-manifest-512x512.png" }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://vetpricecomparisonsite.co.uk/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Guides", "item": "https://vetpricecomparisonsite.co.uk/guides" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Corporate ownership", "item": "https://vetpricecomparisonsite.co.uk/guides/corporate-ownership" } ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "ItemList", "name": "UK veterinary corporate groups", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "url": "https://vetpricecomparisonsite.co.uk/vet-group/medivet", "name": "Medivet" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "url": "https://vetpricecomparisonsite.co.uk/vet-group/ivc-evidensia", "name": "IVC Evidensia" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "url": "https://vetpricecomparisonsite.co.uk/vet-group/cvs", "name": "CVS Group" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "url": "https://vetpricecomparisonsite.co.uk/vet-group/vetpartners", "name": "VetPartners" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "url": "https://vetpricecomparisonsite.co.uk/vet-group/pets-at-home", "name": "Pets at Home Vet Group" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "url": "https://vetpricecomparisonsite.co.uk/vet-group/linnaeus", "name": "Linnaeus" } ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "How do I tell if my vet is independent or corporate?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Most corporate branches still trade under their original local name, so the shop front rarely reveals ownership. The quickest check is to search your practice on this page — we display the ownership status (independent, or the corporate group that owns it) inline with the search results." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Who owns Vets4Pets?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Vets4Pets is the primary veterinary brand of Pets at Home Group plc, the London-listed pet retailer headquartered in Handforth, Cheshire. Individual Vets4Pets branches run as Joint Venture Partnerships, so the local lead vet co-owns the practice with the plc." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Which is the biggest UK vet group?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "IVC Evidensia is the largest UK veterinary group by branch count, followed by CVS, Pets at Home, VetPartners, Medivet and Linnaeus. Between them these six groups own the majority of UK first-opinion corporate branches." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Do corporate vets charge more than independents?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Not on headline items. Median consultation, spay and microchip fees are within a pound or two across independents and the six major groups. The bigger differences are on annual boosters and kennel cough vaccines, which are typically higher at corporate branches." } } ] } ] --- [How It Works](/#how-it-works)[Pricing Map](/county-pricing)[About Us](/#who-we-are) [![The Vet Price Comparison Site](/assets/logo-v3-BBKbOnyg.webp)](/) [Blog](/blog)[For Vets](/for-vets)[Claim Your Listing](/practice/claim) [Home](/)/ [Guides](/guides)/ Corporate ownership Pet owner guide # Who owns your vet? A guide to UK corporate ownership Of the 5,801 UK first-opinion practices we've audited and classified, ownership splits almost exactly in half — 49.2% independent and 50.8% part of a larger corporate group. Six groups account for 99.3% of every corporate branch in the country, and in most cases the branch still trades under its original local name. Search your vet below to see who really owns it. Who owns my vet? National snapshot 5,801 Practices classified 2,854 (49.2%) Independent 2,947 (50.8%) Corporate-owned 6 Major UK groups 99.3% Top 6 share of corporate ## Why corporate ownership matters Independent vs corporate is one of the questions we're asked most often. The practical difference isn't clinical — every UK vet works to the same RCVS standards regardless of who signs the payslips — but it does affect how prices are set, whether medicines and diagnostics are handled in-house or through a group supply chain, and whether the practice reports up to a listed plc, a private-equity backer, or the individual partners on the door. The Competition and Markets Authority is currently conducting a formal market investigation into UK vet services after finding that consolidation, opaque pricing and referral practices may be limiting consumer choice. The ownership of your local branch is central to that debate — and unless you check, you may not know that the practice you've used for years is now part of a national group. Since 2013 the UK first-opinion market has moved from roughly 10% corporate to almost half. Consolidation has been fastest in cities and commuter belts — you'll still find far more independents trading in rural counties than inside the M25. ## The six biggest UK vet groups at a glance Live data from our directory. Median prices use a trimmed sample (min and max removed where we have five or more prices) so a single outlier can't skew the group figure. Group Branches Top region Consultation Dog booster Microchip Profile IVC Evidensia 982 Other £66.00 £81.50 £40.00 [View →](/vet-group/ivc-evidensia) CVS Group 491 South East £65.00 £84.00 £22.00 [View →](/vet-group/cvs) Pets at Home Vet Group 453 Other £55.00 £66.25 £30.00 [View →](/vet-group/pets-at-home) VetPartners 433 Other £58.50 £66.00 £30.00 [View →](/vet-group/vetpartners) Medivet 354 South East £59.00 £69.00 £15.50 [View →](/vet-group/medivet) Linnaeus 213 East of England £58.00 £72.50 £25.00 [View →](/vet-group/linnaeus) Independent practices 2,854 Other £55.00 £61.00 £25.00 Benchmark ## Price benchmarks by group Median published prices for each of the six groups plus an independents benchmark. Each card compares one service — the longest bar is the most expensive, the shortest the cheapest. Compare the same metric across counties on our [live county pricing map](/county-pricing). ### Consultation Median £55–£66 - IVC Evidensia £66.00 - CVS Group £65.00 - Medivet £59.00 - VetPartners £58.50 - Linnaeus £58.00 - Pets at Home Vet Group £55.00 - Independent practices £55.00 cheapest  ·  most expensive ### Dog annual booster Median £61–£84 - CVS Group £84.00 - IVC Evidensia £81.50 - Linnaeus £72.50 - Medivet £69.00 - Pets at Home Vet Group £66.25 - VetPartners £66.00 - Independent practices £61.00 cheapest  ·  most expensive ### Cat annual booster Median £64–£84 - CVS Group £84.00 - IVC Evidensia £83.00 - Linnaeus £72.50 - Medivet £71.00 - VetPartners £70.00 - Pets at Home Vet Group £69.00 - Independent practices £64.00 cheapest  ·  most expensive ### Microchip Median £16–£40 - IVC Evidensia £40.00 - Pets at Home Vet Group £30.00 - VetPartners £30.00 - Linnaeus £25.00 - Independent practices £25.00 - CVS Group £22.00 - Medivet £15.50 cheapest  ·  most expensive ### Dog castration Median £233–£352 - IVC Evidensia £352.00 - VetPartners £270.96 - Pets at Home Vet Group £250.00 - Independent practices £244.66 - CVS Group £243.00 - Linnaeus £239.00 - Medivet £233.00 cheapest  ·  most expensive ### Cat spay Median £133–£177 - IVC Evidensia £177.00 - CVS Group £158.00 - VetPartners £150.00 - Linnaeus £145.00 - Pets at Home Vet Group £140.50 - Independent practices £135.00 - Medivet £133.00 cheapest  ·  most expensive ## What the numbers actually mean Headline consultation fees are remarkably close across the six groups — most sit within a couple of pounds of each other and of the independent benchmark. That's the price shoppers usually compare, and it's the one the CMA has said is opaque but not wildly divergent. The bigger gaps are on annual boosters, kennel cough vaccines and routine neutering — services where medicine costs, protocol length and up-sell of add-ons vary between groups. Independents tend to sit lower on boosters; corporate branches tend to bundle more into the visit. Neither is automatically better value: a slightly higher fee that includes a full nurse consult and a year of flea cover can beat a cheaper headline price that doesn't. If price matters, don't stop at the consultation fee. Ask what the annual vaccination package includes, whether kennel cough is extra, and what the practice charges for a repeat prescription — the CMA's 2026 reforms cap that at £21, but not every branch has updated its published price list yet. ## Where each group is strongest Corporate footprints are far from evenly distributed. Medivet is heavily London and South East, VetPartners leans northern, and Pets at Home follows the retail estate. ### IVC Evidensia 982 branches Strongest in Other - Hampshire 43 - Lancashire 35 - West Midlands 34 ### CVS Group 491 branches Strongest in South East - Devon 41 - Hampshire 34 - Lancashire 22 ### Pets at Home Vet Group 453 branches Strongest in Other - Lancashire 28 - Essex 22 - Kent 19 ### VetPartners 433 branches Strongest in Other - Cheshire 30 - Lancashire 22 - London 22 ### Medivet 354 branches Strongest in South East - London 48 - Kent 22 - Surrey 20 ### Linnaeus 213 branches Strongest in East of England - London 20 - Essex 15 - West Yorkshire 15 ## Full ownership profiles Each hub page below has the parent company, head office, UK footprint, regional spread and a sample of published prices drawn from the branches we index. [ Ownership profile ### Medivet One of the UK's largest veterinary groups, with 350+ branches concentrated in London and the South East. Read the Medivet profile ](/vet-group/medivet)[ Ownership profile ### IVC Evidensia The largest veterinary group in Europe and the biggest in the UK, operating 900+ British sites. Read the IVC Evidensia profile ](/vet-group/ivc-evidensia)[ Ownership profile ### CVS Group The only publicly-listed UK veterinary group, running 500+ small-animal, farm and equine practices. Read the CVS Group profile ](/vet-group/cvs)[ Ownership profile ### VetPartners A York-headquartered group of 430+ UK practices, structured around retaining each practice's local brand and clinical leadership. Read the VetPartners profile ](/vet-group/vetpartners)[ Ownership profile ### Pets at Home Vet Group In-store and standalone practices under the Companion Care and Vets4Pets brands, part of listed retailer Pets at Home. Read the Pets at Home Vet Group profile ](/vet-group/pets-at-home)[ Ownership profile ### Linnaeus A Mars Petcare-owned group of 200+ UK first-opinion practices and referral hospitals, including many long-established local brands. Read the Linnaeus profile ](/vet-group/linnaeus) ## How to check who owns any UK vet Every practice page on this site lists the corporate group where we've been able to verify it, and every practice profile also has an ownership FAQ explaining whether that branch is independent or part of a wider network. Prefer to browse? Start with our [county directory](/vets) or the [live county pricing map](/county-pricing). For deeper reading, our [independent vs corporate chains explainer](/blog/independent-vets-vs-corporate-chains) and [CMA vet-sector investigation summary](/blog/cma-vet-sector-reforms-2026) put the ownership picture in its regulatory context. 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