Vets4Pets

Who owns Vets4Pets?

Vets4Pets, which also trades as Vets for Pets, is the veterinary arm of Pets at Home Group plc, alongside the sister brand Companion Care. Pets at Home is the UK’s largest pet retailer and is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: PETS). There is no private equity firm above it; the ultimate owner is the publicly traded group and its shareholders.

What the records show:

• Companies House: Vets4Pets UK Ltd and Companion Care (Services) Ltd are owned by Pets at Home Vet Group Ltd, which Pets at Home Group plc owns through two holding companies. The register records more than 75% of the shares at each step (register).
• Pets at Home’s results: for the 52 weeks to 26 March 2026 it reported 407 joint-venture practices and 48 company-managed ones across the Vets4Pets and Companion Care brands, 455 in all (FY26 results).
• Pets at Home’s history: it bought Vets4Pets in 2013 (Pets at Home: our history).

How the joint-venture model works

Most Vets4Pets and Companion Care practices run on a Joint Venture Partnership (JVP) model rather than as directly managed corporate branches:

• Each practice is its own company, run by a local partner (a vet, nurse or practice manager).
• The local partner sets their own prices, products and services, so costs vary from branch to branch rather than being fixed centrally.
• Partners keep their practice’s profits once start-up loans are repaid.
• Pets at Home holds half the shares in each practice company. Its accounts say these shares take no part of the profits and give it no control over decisions. It charges each practice fees for the brand, IT and back-office support. In the year to March 2026 this fee income came to £108.4m.

So a Vets4Pets is locally run, with a large company behind it. It has more say over its own prices than a branch of a company-run chain, but it is not a fully independent practice: it pays Pets at Home for the brand and support, and Pets at Home holds half its shares.

What pet owners should know

• Because pricing is set locally, compare nearby Vets4Pets branches rather than assuming a single chain-wide price.
• These practices sit within a retail business that also sells pet products and insurance, which can create commercial pressures alongside clinical care.
• Under the CMA’s new rules (final report March 2026), practices must disclose their ownership more clearly, including their corporate parent.

Sources

• Pets at Home plc: FY26 preliminary results, 27 May 2026
• Pets at Home plc: our history
• Companies House: Vets4Pets UK Ltd, people with significant control
• Vets4Pets: practice ownership / JVP model
• CMA: veterinary services market investigation

Practice counts are the company’s own, from its FY26 results. Our directory lists each RCVS-registered premises carrying the Vets4Pets or Vets for Pets name, branch sites included, so its count is higher.