HISTORY OF MILTON KEYNES VETERINARY GROUP

This practice is one of the oldest veterinary practices in Milton Keynes.  It started as an almost entirely large animal, (i.e. farm animal/horse), practice.  In 1970, Peter Snook joined Jimmy Fraser and Ken Pitman to develop the small animal (i.e. family pet) side of the practice which was rapidly developing with the expansion of The New City of Milton Keynes.  It was decided to concentrate on the small animal side of the business so premises were purchased at 7 Stoke Road in Bletchley (as shown by the photo to the right).  This became a thriving small animal veterinary surgery and a veterinary nurse training centre.

Graham Richmond joined the practice in 1977 and became a partner in 1982 with the retirement of Jimmy Fraser.  The practice became known as “Pitman, Snook & Richmond”.  The small animal side of the practice continued to expand as the number of farms in the region decreased whilst the City of Milton Keynes continued to rapidly grow.

Philip Hanlon arrived from Australia in 1983 and joined the practice initially as an assistant.  With the retirement of Ken Pitman in 1989, Philip Hanlon joined the partnership and the practice became known as “Snook, Richmond & Associates”.

Philip Kilkenny, being a “local lad” from Hanslope, initially gained work experience from the practice whilst being a student.  He joined the practice after qualifying as a veterinary surgeon in 1992, shortly to be followed in December 1993 by his wife Debbie Kilkenny.  Both Philip and Debbie became partners in 1995.

It soon became obvious that we had outgrown the premises at 7 Stoke Road so a decision was taken to search for a location to build a purpose built Veterinary Hospital.  Eventually land was purchased at our site in Walnut Tree and following months of planning, building work finally commenced.  The first Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons approved Veterinary Hospital in Milton Keynes was officially opened in June 2002 by Ken Pitman and Edna Smith.

The opening of the new Veterinary Hospital in addition to the retirement of Peter Snook from the partnership seemed an appropriate time to rename the practice “Milton Keynes Veterinary Group”.

Rory Burke had joined the practice as an assistant shortly after qualifying in 1996.  He spent several years studying for the Certificate in Small Animal Surgery which he achieved in 2005.  Rory became a partner in July 2006.

The practice currently works out of four branch surgeries in addition to the RCVS approved Veterinary Hospital at Walnut Tree.  The hospital has become the veterinary nurse training centre for the practice with Stoke Road now acting as one of our branch surgeries.