Celebrating 10 years of growth - Westpoint Veterinary Group

Even the most hard-working
and dedicated businessman
needs a lucky break now and
again, and for Rob Drysdale it
came on day one.
Rob, now at the head of the
biggest farm animal practice in
the country, is the first to admit
that a series of fortunate events
helped to kickstart his now
thriving business.
“When I decided to set up on
my own I moved the required
15 miles from where I had been
working and decided to look
for premises in Warnham,” he
explained.
“I knocked on the door of one
of the local business units and
was told that they were owned
by a local famer, so I went up
the road to what turned out to be the wrong
farm.
“There, sat on his tractor in the yard,
unable to go anywhere because he was
waiting for a mechanic to come and fix the
machine, I found Harry Hewlett.
“As it turned out, the units I had visited
were nothing to do with Harry, but when I
told him why I wanted to rent some space
he took me to meet his wife Cindy. It turned
out that he had fallen out with his own vet
that morning and was wondering where to
go for a replacement.
WESTPOINT VETERINARY GROUP
One lucky break –
lots of hard work
“After a cup of coffee and a chat they
offered me part of their own farm office as
a base for the new practice – and the rest is
history.”
Ten years and plenty of shuffles, building
conversions and moves later, Westpoint
Veterinary Practice still has its headquarters
at Ruckmans Farm, the scene of that
first coincidental meeting.
“It was an amazingly lucky break. I ended
up with office space, my first customer
and access to plenty more.” That wasn’t
all he gained from that first meeting.
“Cindy became my first secretary and their
daughter Aimee took over the job a bit later
on.”
It was a great start, but it doesn’t explain
how Rob’s business, Westpoint Veterinary
Group, has gone on to become the largest
of its kind in the UK, headed up since July
2009 by directors John Mouncey, Paul Horwood,
Julian Dare, Matt Dobbs and Rob
himself.
“The story from day two and beyond is
down to the usual mix of hard work, good
planning and being supported by a great
team,” Rob explained. “It’s also down to
the fact that we specialise in production
animals, focus on keeping our overheads
down and offer a local service while also
benefiting from the economies of scale that
go with a bigger practice.
It’s not surprising that Westpoint uses
“National strengths – local service” as its
company strapline, or that it claims to be
“Getting bigger by being better” – two aspirations
that are more than just slogans.
Continued on page 37
Left to right, Jason Davies, marketing manager, Rob Drysdale and Matt Dobbs, directors
www.southeastfarmer.net South East Farmer - September 2010