Endell Vet Group, Salisbury

"Clients should have the confidence and rapport with me to call me anytime for anything," claims Wiltshire vet Keith Cutler.

And while it may sound a bold claim, it is one he backs up further with the suggestion that, no matter what the problem, his phone is always ready to be answered. "If they've got a difficult calving they call the vet, when they have a mastitis flare up they call the vet, when they have trouble with their childrens' biology homework they call the vet."

But being on the end of the phone is not much use unless you can give the answers and make a difference to clients' businesses. A point not lost on Mr Cutler, who is widely recognised as one of the leading beef cattle vets in the UK. "When I started trying to make a difference to beef herds it was very much on a cold-calling basis. I'd been working on herd health planning and disease prevention with dairy herds and believed similar work would help the beef sector.

"However, most beef farmers were reluctant to spend money on non-emergency vet work, so would never call me on farm to undertake health planning. I simply started dropping in on them, often free of charge, when I had nothing else going on, largely in the afternoon. I saw no point in sitting in the office waiting for the phone to ring, so I went out and found the work.

"I spent time on farm looking at cows and building a relationship and rapport with farmers. I wanted them to see it as a team approach, with me helping them improve their businesses."

Mr Cutler now has 68 suckler herds, which he describes as active clients, all using herd health plans and all relying on him for key advice. He aims to visit these herds for non-emergency work at least three times a year, advising on all manner of topics from bull breed choice to calf management.

While beef herd management is the area Mr Cutler has had the greatest impact on in recent years, he is mindful that dairy clients are still a significant part of his business and does all he can ensure he is on top of clients' needs. "All clients have milk recording data copied to me, so I can pick out problems and give farmers advice on what to do. I like to think I would be on the phone to the client before they've had a chance to phone me."

And while many vets may rely on verbal contact as the prime way of conveying information, Mr Cutler is an advocate of written reports following visits. "It can be difficult for clients to understand everything during a conversation when dealing with some subjects, putting it in writing gives them something to refer back to. This way they can implement different parts of my recommendations at different stages when it is appropriate or use the report to formulate plans with other specialists, such as nutritionists, when applicable."

Outside of practice, Mr Cutler is an active speaker at various vet events and contributes regularly to vet publications and has been responsible for producing a number of cattle health guides for, among others, the NBA, MDC and EBLEX. He is honorary vet to the NBA and is involved in both the Johne's and BVD initiatives, which are aiming to elimnate both diseases from the UK.

"Beyond this I am also heavily involved in helping young vets gain the experience and confidence they need to work in modern large animal practice." Mr Cutler has been a visiting lecturer at five of the six UK vet schools and his practice is a foster practice for Bristol Vet School.