I’ve actually known Holmefield Vets since I was a child, back when it was a mixed farm practice it was our family vets so I have strong links here.

My first job after leaving school was with horses. I spent several years in the equine industry, including a year in the USA. I trained as an RVN in Leeds and after working in a mixed practice for several years in York I joined Holmefield in 2004. I spent several years here before I decided to spend more time with my children, and I returned as Head Nurse in 2013.  I feel like I have a long history with the practice!

Can you tell us more about the practice and how it feels to work there?

It's very much a family feel here. Some of our receptionists and nurses have been here for over 10 years, but we are also a training practice, so we have our ‘homegrown’ nurses, many of whom stay on with us which is always great.

It’s a very caring team. We socialise, and we all love working together and supporting each other.

What do you like most about your job?

Something I love about Holmefield is that the nurses do absolutely everything within their remit, including schedule 3, which allows the vets to focus on their side of things.

CPD and progression are very much encouraged. We support people to follow their interests, so if you have something that you particularly want to evolve in, we enable that.

We currently have a nurse who is undertaking a behaviour certificate, we have another nurse who recently did an ECC certificate, and we have another nurse who is very feline-friendly. She's just completed her feline diploma certificate and achieved silver status for the clinic as a feline-friendly clinic. So everyone who has a field of interest is supported and encouraged in that and then that information is disseminated and shared with the rest of the team as well.

We’re a close, friendly team and it’s just a really nice, warm atmosphere. I enjoy coming to work, and I think everyone feels that way, because we try to make the place as happy and as welcoming as we can. We always find something positive throughout the day, and have a laugh.

You’ve been at the practice for a good length of time, what is that keeps you there?

Definitely the people. It's just such a nice bunch of people to work with. Everyone is welcoming, and passionate about their work.

If someone is interested in joining the team, we encourage them to come and spend a day with us, and we have the whole team meet them.

Everybody's opinion is important and respected here.

What do you appreciate about the local area?

There are lots of lovely dog walking places around and some nice restaurants. We have great travel links too, you can get to York and to London easily.

We're on the doorstep of rural nature, but we're also within easy reach of lively cities.