11/03/2026
🐾💚 A letter from Owen our Practice Owner & Director 💚🐾
Dear clients,
With all the negative press about the veterinary industry and the CMA report recently, I have felt it important to write this.
Kerr Vets is owned and run by myself, we are not part of any corporate vet chain. We are deeply rooted in the local community, as I was born and brought up in Kilbarchan (my Mum was the local GP!), and I live locally with my family. Because of this, our ethos (alongside excellent patient care) has always been fairness and respect for our clients, and building long term relationships rather than making short term profit.
I am grateful to be in the position to build on the great reputation started by Ian Kerr in 1988, serving the local community and their animals to the best of my ability for my tenure, and then pass a legacy on to the next generation. I would hope Kerr Vet Group will be there for many years to come as a truly independent vet, helping the local people and their pets long after my eventual retirement.
It is with this legacy in mind that we have been extending and renovating the Bridge of Weir branch of the practice. With the help of local architects and friends ataSTUDIO, I wanted to create a practice which truly improves the local high street, that the village can be proud of, and will be a home for the business for years to come. I have also committed to a lot of "green" measures for the building to substantially reduce our carbon footprint. Although this is a very substantial investment for the practice, it has been long planned and I have been diligently saving funds in the business and for this purpose for the last 10 or more years, ever since taking over from Ian Kerr. For this reason, there will be NO additional costs passed to the clients in relation to the construction of the premises, but hopefully a lovely environment for us to work in and for you to visit.
It is with this long term attitude that I have always set the prices at Kerr Vets. Prices will always rise, with inflation, heating, lighting, wage bills and the cost of everything in life. However I always fight to keep these increases to a minimum, and well below any of our local competitors. I have no shareholders or anyone else to answer to, just my staff to pay and my family to support. So the overriding principle is FAIRNESS... we will continue to always charge only what represents a fair price for our services and care, we will always try to give great value in what we do, and if I can avoid passing additional costs to our clients I will do so. I have no interest in making a quick profit, I would rather be respected for what I do and be here for years to come, and for this reason our prices in general compare very favourably to every other vet, in the area and beyond.
We continue to offer a 15% discount on our consultations for people on benefits and in genuine need.
We will continue to be as transparent as we can about our prices, and publish (as we have always done) the costs of our routine services both on our website and physically in the practice. A fully itemised invoice is always available on request, and we are happy discuss any concerns that you may have.
I hope this addresses any worries you, our clients and friends have after all the negative press recently, and helps reassure you that Kerr Vets and I are on your side.
My thanks,
Owen Borthwick BVM&S MRCVS
