Paragon Vet Group, Carlisle

Managing expansion is a hard task, but when that expansion is in a shrinking sector and involves growing the business by fourfold, it is a mammoth achievement.

However, for Carlisle vet David Black it is a move he has taken in his stride and managed alongside providing increasingly professional and proactive vet care to his clients.

"With eight or nine competitive practices within the Carlisle area and more just 15 miles down the road at Penrith, we have to ensure the service we offer is of the highest quality or we wouldn't be able to maintain the client base we have."

To this end Mr Black aims to provide both a high quality service and, to those who want it, a range of premium services, such as cattle embryo transfer work. "We don't care if we are more expensive than our competitors, so long as clients feel they are receiving value from the service we offer."

And in an attempt to provide more value, Mr Black and his colleagues at Paragon Vet Group have established contracts with a number of their dairy clients based on them paying a set amount for vet services for every litre of milk produced. "This has meant clients are more willing to have us on farm to investigate problems, rather than simply being called to treat sick animals or for bad calvings.

"Admittedly, these contracts have taken some effort to manage, as we are often called out significantly more often in the first two or three months, but after that it settles down again. The arrangement is particularly beneficial for young vets, as they are able to spend time on farm without having to worry about how they are going to charge for it," he says.

When working with clients, Mr Black is a fan of regular, more informal contact and runs a number of client meetings which allow farmers to learn from each other and encourage uptake of new techniques and technologies. Lunchtime meetings for dairy clients are particularly popular, as are meetings targeted specifically at the younger generation of farmer and farm worker.

"Often there is little time on farm for younger people to receive the instruction their forefathers did and a lot of college courses fail to teach many basic skills. By targeting these people as a specific group we are able to engage with them individually and provide skills of real value to them and their employers."

In a bid to help clients focus on the issues which are costing them most, Mr Black has been instrumental in encouraging the uptake of computer and other recording systems, working on the principle of only being able to change what is being measured. "Investing in animal health can result in significant gains in productivity, but unless these gains are measured no one is sure whether the investment has been worthwhile," he adds.

Besides direct contact with farmers, Mr Black has been a prime leader in the establishment of XL Vets, an alliance of vets dedicated to farm animal practice across the UK. "We are trying to promote proactive health control and provide a network of knowledge for our member practices to call on when they need to. Being able to pick up the phone to another vet who may have more experience of a particular problem is a great reassurance and ensures clients receive the best possible service they can from their vet."