A FORMER plant room at a Birchwood shopping centre is being transformed into a state-of-the-art veterinary surgery.
The independently-owned Willows Veterinary Group is set to open its 25th surgery at Birchwood Shopping Centre at the end of the month.
The new practice will include two consulting rooms, a pharmacy, a laboratory, an operating theatre with a separate prep room, an X-ray suite, and separate wards for cats and dogs.
It is the latest addition for the independent veterinary group which offers a wealth of knowledge and expertise through a network of small animal practices, a referral veterinary hospital, two equine centres and a five-office farm practice which are located across Cheshire and into the Wirral, Staffordshire and North Wales. Willows is accredited by The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
The group already has three other surgeries in the town; Beech House Veterinary Centre on Wilderspool Causeway, Bridgefoot Veterinary Surgery in Latchford and Orford Lane Veterinary Surgery.
Head Vet Philippa Bradley will be leading the five-strong team at the new site which was chosen to better serve clients coming from Birchwood to the group’s other busy Warrington surgeries.
Philippa, who is also in charge at Orford Lane Veterinary Surgery and has been a vet for eight years, said: “We see a lot of clients from Birchwood at our other sites in Warrington so it seemed logical to open something nearer to the community so the first-rate service we always strive to provide is more accessible and more convenient for both owners and their pets.
“At the core of everything we do at Willows Veterinary Group is the welfare of the animals which stems from the fact that we are independently-owned and run by vets.
“Being a part of such a well-established group also means our clients and their much-loved pets have access to a terrific range of expertise and specialist knowledge.
“We also offer a full out-of-hours service with a dedicated night team at our Beech House surgery in Warrington so any animals seen at Birchwood who need overnight care will be transferred and looked after by one of our own teams.
“It’s a really exciting development for us and we have had some great feedback from our existing Birchwood clients who are really pleased that we are opening a new surgery nearby. Being closer to hand makes life easier for them and we are looking forward to being an integral part of the local community.”
The new surgery will have an Open Day on Saturday January 28 from 10 am to 2 pm for people and their pets to have a look rround, meet the team and find out more about the services on offer to help keep their pets healthy.
Philippa said the shopping centre location was a real bonus and added: “It’s a nice, bright and clean shopping centre with lots of parking. It’s a busy location and people can tie in doing other jobs and some shopping while they come and visit us as well so hopefully the new surgery will benefit both ourselves and the shopping centre.”
Birchwood Shopping Centre has almost 50 stores and restaurants including big high-street names such as Aldi, Asda, McDonalds, New Look and Pets At Home. It is also host to a range of independent businesses such as Crawshaws Butchers and Edith Higham Florists.
Gary Jones, Birchwood Shopping Centre Manager, said: “We are pleased with the introduction of the Willows Veterinary Group and the new service it brings to the centre. This will further strengthen the community offer at the scheme.”
For more information about Willows Veterinary Group go to www.willowsvetgroup.co.uk or visit the Facebook page @WillowsVetGroup.
