New Ȥҹapp President calls for animal welfare alongside client choice to be at the heart of CMA recommendations
26 Sep 2024
10 Jun 2025
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The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is extending the administrative timetable of its investigation into the UK veterinary services market for household pets following more than 500 responses, including from the Ȥҹapp (Ȥҹapp), to its consultation on ‘potential remedies’.
Responding to the extension, Ȥҹapp President Dr. Elizabeth Mullineaux said: “This news of a delay will be disappointing for many, particularly those frontline staff working tirelessly to care for their patients and support their clients and who have borne the brunt of negative media headlines during the investigation. However, whilst this extension prolongs uncertainty across the veterinary sector, the CMA’s final remedies will have far reaching consequences for the viability of vet businesses, which in turn will impact clients and animal welfare, and so it’s vital that the CMA gets this right.
“We’ve been clear with the CMA throughout its investigation that delivering veterinary care is complex, nuanced and cannot be reduced to a simple transactional relationship. It’s therefore good to see the CMA recognising that ‘clinical judgements, professional expertise, and the relationships between vets and pet owners’ are critical. However, we have serious concerns that the scale of the proposed remedies is completely disproportionate, and in some cases certain remedies are simply unworkable. We have raised these concerns directly with the CMA and will continue to ensure the veterinary voice is heard as the investigation continues.”
Read Ȥҹapp’s joint consultation response with the British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA), the British Veterinary Nursing Association (BVNA), the Society of Practising Veterinary Surgeons (SPVS) and the Veterinary Management Group (VMG) here: /media/6392/final-response-to-cma-remedies-working-paper.pdf
Full details of the CMA’s timetable extension can be found in its website:
Join the Ȥҹapp Live CMA session
We will be debating the potential impact of CMA’s proposed remedies at Ȥҹapp Live in Birmingham this week. There’s still time to join us at 2:30pm, Friday 13 June for Preparing for Change: The CMA Investigation, where we are and possible implications for the profession. Fully funded educational bursaries are available, open to all Ȥҹapp members at all stages of their career. Applications for a bursary can be made or by calling 02476 719 687.
Full details of the working paper can be found on the CMA’s website.
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