The Aldi-style insurgents who could be about to shake up the vets market

When Louise Burns noticed her dog Bow was breathing oddly in October 2023 she took the Boston terrier to the vet, who told her Bow’s airway was swollen, performed a tracheostomy and a further operation, and discharged her after four days with a bill of £7,783.77.

“When Louise Burns noticed that her dog Bow was breathing oddly in October 2023, she took the Boston terrier straight to the vet”

BBC

Louise, 72, from Thundersley, Essex, says her insurance only covered the first £3,000 and that in an emergency she felt she had little choice but to pay the remainder: "You're not really in a position to go and get a second opinion where you've got a dog that's not breathing properly."

BBC

The BBC reporter says they have been inundated with pet owners contacting them to complain about rising vet costs over the past two years, using cases like Louise’s to illustrate the problem.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) says average vet prices across the market rose by 63% between 2016 and 2023 and has carried out a formal UK‑wide investigation that will publish a final report setting out changes to how it wants vets to operate.

The CMA found in a provisional report that there is a lack of transparency around who owns individual practices and whether pet owners have enough information about pricing, noting that 84% of vet practice websites displayed no pricing information at all.

BBC

UK pet owners spent £6.3bn on vet and other pet‑care services in 2024, which the CMA calculates as just over £365 per pet‑owning household, and Clear Vet’s analysis of more than 500 practices found average out‑of‑hours emergency consultation costs of £209 nationwide, falling to £142 in Yorkshire and rising to £295 in Manchester.

The article describes a sharp shift in ownership and industry pressure: in 2013 only 10% of vet practices were owned by large corporate groups and that figure now stands at 60%, and many vets say they feel under pressure to make money for an increasingly small pool of owners.

“When Louise Burns noticed that her dog Bow was breathing oddly in October 2023, she took the Boston terrier straight to the vet”

BBC

Rob Williams, president of the British Veterinary Association (BVA), says it is "too reductive" to blame a single cause for price rises, while larger corporate operators point to advanced treatments, increased wages and higher customer expectations as drivers of cost.

The article also presents two related ownership figures that could appear inconsistent: it states 60% are owned by large corporate groups and later says more than two thirds are now owned by non‑vets; the article does not reconcile those two statements.

Potential remedies and market responses include the CMA likely ordering greater transparency on prices and ownership and easing access to cheaper medicines online by capping prescription costs and requiring vets to tell owners about savings, but some in the industry warn of unintended consequences.

Williams and others argue that online pharmacies are often owned by large chains and that two of the large veterinary groups account for somewhere between 70% and 80% of medication volume supplied online, which he says could concentrate income rather than increase competition.

BBC

The article highlights new independent practices and subscription models that aim for transparency and predictability, cites technology and AI as ways to free vets’ time, and raises broader questions about breed choices, rising expectations and the need for vets to act as "the voice of the animal," while noting a correction that the BVA speaks for individual vets rather than big operators.