The Farmers Mart Aug-Sep 2018 - Issue 58 | Page 8

8 BRIAR VETS AUG / SEP 2018 • farmers-mart . co . uk

All the benefits of a rural practice

On a warm Monday lunchtime , I met up with Neil and Silke Fraser the owners and originators of Briar Vets of Briarcliffe near Penistone . This all new practice has all the benefits of a Rural practice – easy parking , on site vets , personal care and service – fully integrated facilities for animal care and surgery and very close to the Towns of Huddersfield and Barnsley as well as the city of Sheffield .

NEIL is originally from Berkshire just outside Reading . He studied for his veterinary degree at the renowned Glasgow university . Once qualified he started in practise in Newbury then Guildford where he met Silke who had trained as a vet in Berlin .

Back in 1992 Neil was looking for a change and as luck would have it the nearby Churchfield vets based in Barnsley had a director retiring on ill health grounds who just happened to be the livestock specialist .

Suffice to say , Neil whose passion was livestock applied and got the post . With parents from York and Inverness , Neil was no stranger to Yorkshire .

Neil worked and really developed the livestock side of Churchfield ’ s business and Silke worked in a small animal practice in Sheffield initially then as their family grew she took a 14 Year break to look after son Patrick and daughters Catriona and Nicola . Catriona is still at home and at university , Patrick and Nicola have grown up and flown the nest . Nicola has followed in the family footsteps and is now a qualified vet working in a mixed practice in Chesterfield .

With the increase in technology and treatments it is getting harder to recruit vets to work in a mixed practice . Equine practice is fast becoming a specific area of practice and Churchfield took on new vets for this role .

Neil ’ s desire was to develop a specialist Livestock and small animal practice with Vets who really want to work in these areas .

So , December the 15th 2017 with the agreement of Churchfield , Briar Vets was born and Churchfield ceased their Livestock side . mboothdesign architectural design and building consultants

Good luck and best wishes to all at Briar Vets in their new surgery

T : 01226 286256 | M : 07881898300 E : mboothdesign @ btconnect . com

Fairfield House Berneslai Close , off Churchfield Barnsley S70 2FL

Farmers tend not to like change however for Neil ’ s livestock clients it was only a small change , just the name on the bill . Since December things have moved on a pace and Neil and Silke have some 300 clients . The latest development is the soon to be opened small animal clinic . With the assistance of Barnsley Enterprise and an EPIP ( East Pennine Innovation Partnership )

nicholson roberts COMPANY LIMITED

BUILDERS & CONTRACTORS

Best wishes to Briar Vets

01226 763418 www . nicholsonroberts . co . uk

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LEADER grant , this will provide state of the art care for all small animals and domestic pets with full operating and overnight care facilities . As the clinic has been built behind Neil and Silke ’ s bungalow on the site of their old double garage and pig pen it means they can give 24 / 7 care to all the animals as they are just next door and can monitor the clinic from the state-of-the-art CCTV link .

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Proud suppliers of Simply Signs and wishing good luck to Briar Vets

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However what clients like is that they still get that James Herriot feel from the surgery and one to one attention- even a cup of Tea !

Silke will be helping Neil out at the clinic when is working on farm . Neil and Silke ’ s expertise are very diverse from Cattle and Sheep to the big growth area of Farm Pets including Micro Pigs , Llamas and Alpaca ’ s to name but a few . In fact , they are currently have registered some 63 different species !

Neil has treated everything from a pigs in gardens to large Dairy Herds , and goes as far as Ferrybridge to Sheffield and Bawtry to Holmfirth .

I asked about future plans . Neil was most emphatic that they intend to grow the animal clinic and already have plans at the ready . However , it is most important that customers know the staff and they will know their animals . A personal service will be delivered to Farmers and Pet owners alike .

We wish this committed couple the very best and there will a clinic update in a future issue which will include the grand opening scheduled for October .