Saturday 8th March marks International Women’s Day – a day to celebrate the achievements of awesome women and forge a better, more inclusive world.
It’s a day that recognises the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, and this year’s theme is all about accelerating action for gender equality.
Here at VetPartners, we’re blessed with many incredible women and we’re honouring six of them from across our business who are excelling at what they do, inspiring those around them and truly making a difference for colleagues, clients and patients.
Read their inspiring stories here….
Kerry Lambert – Winner of the 2024 VetPartners Leadership Award and Co-Clinical Director at Ashworth Vets
Whether it’s organising training to enhance the skills of her colleagues or boosting morale at her practice through thoughtful initiatives like charity events and team socials, Kerry is an inspirational leader.
She began her working life as a student veterinary nurse at Ashworth Vets in Hampshire and Berkshire and has risen to the role of co-clinical director.
Kerry was rewarded with the 2024 Leadership Award at VetPartners’ annual Congress in recognition of everything she does at her practice.
Her compassionate and understanding nature, together with deep understanding of what makes a successful practice, make her a natural fit for her role, and she inspires others with her enthusiasm and determination.
Kerry completed the VetPartners Senior Leaders programme, which inspires practice leaders with fresh ideas and new skills, and helped to equip her for her role.
She loves leading by example and cares so much that she can often be found making tea or grabbing equipment for colleagues.
Even after nearly 30 years, Kerry loves the profession, with all its unique challenges, and has embraced and helped to drive many of the positive changes at her practice.
Kerry says: “International Women’s Day is a day for me to celebrate the women around me that have supported, empowered, encouraged and helped drive me to where I am today. Every woman is extraordinary.”
Mia McGuigan – LGBTQIA+ ambassador and VetPartners Director of Information Security
The year’s International Women’s Day theme of accelerating action for gender equality is especially important to Mia, who believes work needs to be done to encourage more women in tech.
While progress has been made, globally around only 35% of the workforce in IT are women, reducing to 24% in cybersecurity, which is Mia’s area of expertise and a role she thrives in due to her love of problem-solving, handling challenges and thinking creatively.
No two days are ever the same in the constantly evolving field of IT security, with new technologies, attack methods and defence strategies emerging all the time, and it means that to adequately protect business assets and personal data, Mia is constantly learning and developing.
As well as encouraging more women into cybersecurity, Mia feels it is important for the LGBTQIA+ community to have positive, visible advocates and role models in leadership positions.
She is married to Fiona, a Community Service Matron for the NHS, and they have been together for 18 years. They had a civil partnership in 2012 as marriage for the LGBTQIA+ community was illegal. When it became legal for same sex couples to marry in 2013, they converted their civil partnership into a marriage.
Mia is passionate about creating a work environment where everyone feels safe to be themselves, valued and respected because mental health and job satisfaction improve when people don’t have to hide their identities or fear judgement.
Outside of work, she has been sponsoring the education of a young girl in India for the past five years through a charity called The Hope Foundation UK.
Mia says: “International Women’s Day for me is a time to reflect on the women who have gone before and fought for us to have the basic human rights we take for granted now. It’s about celebrating progress toward gender equality whilst recognising the ongoing struggles women face globally.”
Katie Robinson – VetPartners Business Development Director (BDD) and Ironman
Tackling one of the most demanding physical and mental tests in the world in the pursuit of sporting glory has turned Katie into an international athlete and a role model for others.
Ironman is one of the ultimate tests of fitness, endurance and mental toughness – and Katie successfully completed the long-distance triathlon race in Italy in 2022, consisting of a 2.4mile swim, 112miles on a bike and then running a marathon.
She also represented Great Britain at the World Triathlon Championships in Montreal in 2022, finishing in a total time 1hr 27mins 24secs.
The VetPartners BDD, who still works part-time as a vet at Hampden Equine Vets, has also completed six half Ironman events, as well as the gruelling Escape Alcatraz in San Francisco, where competitors jump off a boat off the island and swim 1.5 miles back to shore, before a 25-mile bike ride and a run up sand dunes.
The events are widely considered one of the most difficult one-day sporting events in the world and are male-dominated.
However, Katie is used to blazing a trail for women as she was the only woman among six vets when she first joined Hampden Equine as a new graduate, having been inspired to become a vet by her lifelong love of horses.
She is as enthusiastic and passionate about the veterinary profession as ever. Through VetPartners’ flexibility to enable her to have a dual role doing clinical work alongside her BDD role, she has a deep understanding of the challenges facing people she supports.
Katie says: “At school I was the only girl in my class, then I was the only girl in the equine vets, now I do a sport where I’m in the minority. If you surround yourself with people who are better than you, anything is possible. If that inspires any female to be a better version of them it can only be good for all mankind.”
Caroline Scobie – Clinical Director at Westway Vets and VetPartners Clinical Board Support Team member
Caroline is passionate about the care of her patients, clients and colleagues. She also loves helping to make a difference to progressing clinical care at VetPartners.
As one of four female Clinical Directors at Westway Vets, a busy small animal practice in Newcastle with its own out-of-hours service, where she’s worked since graduating from Edinburgh in 2010, she thrives at all aspects of general practice work and has the RCVS Certificate in Small Animal Medicine.
Caroline is an inspiration to those around her, including Westway’s new graduate vets whom she helps to mentor, while her knowledge, curiosity and caring nature are also having a positive impact on the wider veterinary profession.
She was the first chair of the VetPartners Small Animal Clinical Board which supports clinical teams working in our practices to progress care and is now a member of the Clinical Board’s Support Team.
With the support of VetPartners, Caroline was inspired to complete her Master of Science (MSc) in Evidence-Based Health Care from the University of Oxford, an experience she describes as truly transformative. As part of her dissertation, Caroline conducted a systematic review into the diagnostic accuracy of SDMA in the diagnosis of chronic kidney disease in cats and dogs.
As a clinician in small animal practice, she wanted to choose a project useful to herself and others in practice and hopes to have her research published in veterinary literature.
She achieved the honour of being awarded the Gillian Nicholls Prize from Kellogg College in recognition of an outstanding dissertation.
She loves using the combination of science, practical skills and communication to help the animals in her care and says consistently improving clinical standards for patients and empowering the Westway Vets team are what drives her and her fellow Clinical Directors.
Caroline says: “International Women’s Day, for me, is a time to reflect on the women before us who paved the way to today, where it is not unusual for the four Clinical Directors of Westway Vets to be women, just as it wasn’t unusual for the previous owners to be men.”
Jo Moore – Winner of the 2023 VetPartners Leadership Award and Managing Director of Pet Cremation Services
Even during the busiest, most challenging times, Jo never loses sight of what is the highest priority for the team at Pet Cremation Services (PCS) – providing comfort and support for pet owners at a time of great sadness.
Achieving this takes a commitment to providing a high-quality service and having everyone in the team pulling together, which is testament to Jo’s inspirational leadership skills.
When she was appointed Managing Director in 2022, after six years of working on the finance side, she wanted to make a difference not only to the service provided but to the people that make the business tick.
She visited all 14 sites, from Cornwall to Scotland, asking the team for feedback and honest opinions about their workplace. Her mantra of ‘we are one team’ kick-started a process of gradual improvement and ensuring everyone felt listened to.
It resulted in Jo winning the 2023 Leadership Award at VetPartners Congress and Awards.
With a background of working in caring roles after a career spent in private hospitals, the elderly care sector and now pet crematoria, she is passionate about making a difference in people’s lives when they most need help and support.
Responding to the changing needs of owners as well as her team members, as well as being energy efficient and sustainable, means Jo is running an ever-evolving business.
She is also committed to making individual crematoria sites more environmentally friendly and two have already earned Investors in the Environment accreditation.
Jo says: “I was fortunate to grow up with some inspiring female role models, including a head mistress, Prime Minister, a Queen and, most of all, my remarkable mum, who took care of everything in a single parent household. I believe in taking opportunities and supporting others to do the same.”
Ami Sawran – Clinical Director at Westpoint Farm Vets and new SPVS President
Ami is dedicated to ensuring as many people as possible are welcomed into the veterinary profession and that the conditions in which they work are such that they want to stay.
Whether it is creating a positive practice culture for her colleagues at Westpoint Farm Vets in Essex, supporting her team’s wellbeing and career development, or advocating more diverse, inclusive workplaces, she is a tireless ambassador for LGBTQIA+ communities and role model for VetPartners’ commitment to having diverse, inclusive workplaces.
As Clinical Director at Westpoint and a member of the VetPartners Farm Executive, she is playing a key role in shaping the future of the profession, and her positive influence stretches further thanks to her new role as SPVS President.
She wants to use her time as President to represent the needs and best interests of the profession during challenging times, as well as inspire more veterinary leaders.
The first RCVS Advanced Practitioner in Camelid Practice, Ami is one of the UK’s foremost authorities on the care of llamas and alpacas, and was last year made an RCVS Fellow for her commitment to improving their health and welfare and supporting delivering care to the species.
She is an advocate for LGBTQIA+ communities and sits on the British Veterinary LGBTQIA+ Committee as she believes being visible and vocally supportive of communities encourages people to understand that they belong and are safe to be themselves.
Ami says: “International Women’s Day is an opportunity for reflection and recognition of the trailblazers that came before us. We can reaffirm our promises to continue doing the same, where possible, – for ourselves and others, regardless of their gender.”
For media enquiries, please contact Amanda Little, VetPartners PR and Communications Director, at [email protected] or 07970 198492
