Kingsclere Vets opens in Kingsclere Business Park

A new independent veterinary practice has opened in Kingsclere.

Kingsclere Vets, located at Coldridge House in Kingsclere Business Park, officially opened on Monday, January 8, and it hopes to provide customers with a personal touch when it comes to animal care.

Kingsclere Vets is owned and managed by Laura Knapp, who qualified to become a vet in 2016 with a degree from the University of Liverpool.

She had the dream of opening up her own independent practice after working for a corporate chain of vets.

She said: “I found it a bit frustrating with the way it was run so I thought I could try and create a practice I am used to.”

Mrs Knapp had worked in several independents before, and she believes they offer a better quality of service.

A key selling point of the new practice is that it offers its own out-of-hours service, something not all independents are able to do.

Mrs Knapp said: “Not all practices now look after their pets at night.

“Patients that are registered at certain practices will maybe have to travel elsewhere, maybe to Reading, Swindon or Winchester.

“For me, having seen vets doing everything, both the nights and the days, that has always been normal for me.

“That was always a non-negotiable for me.”

As well as this, Kingsclere Vets also has five consulting rooms, two theatres, a bereavement room and separate dog and cat wards and waiting rooms.

Mrs Knapp added: “The thing that probably sets us apart from other practices are our dental facilities.

“All practices can offer dental procedures, but we’ve got a whole suite for it. Having it separate helps to keep hygiene levels in the practice much better.”

Mrs Knapp wanted her practice to feel welcoming and homely, rather than clinical and cold.

She said: “I hope we’ve got the best of both worlds. It is nice and friendly downstairs, but we haven’t compromised anywhere at all on any of the equipment.

“Everything is state of the art.”

Around 400 people attended the practice’s open day in December, leading Mrs Knapp to think she may soon have to add to her current team of two vets.

She said: “It was heaving. We really weren’t expecting it. We might need another vet sooner than I thought.”

Her key focus for Kingsclere Vets is providing “excellent” customer service, and the vets will only allow a certain number of people to register to allow every animal to get the full attention they deserve.

Mrs Knapp added: “For me, the main message of the practice is that we are a genuine team of people.

“We are all pet owners ourselves and we would all want the best for our pets. That is what we’re offering to clients.

“We want to be the kind of people you want to leave your pets with.”