David F. Giraldi, GP. Cert. Practice Management & Admin, CEO VetPartners Italia, National & International Congress Speaker

After almost 30 years’ experience as a practicing veterinarian, David F. Giraldi became the CEO of VetPartners Italia in 2019, with the aim of making the VetPartners Italia group the first choice in Italy.

Since then, VetPartners Italia has grown and has some of Italy’s most respected and trusted practices in the group that build on their success day by day with dedication and passion and share the same core values: Respect, collaboration and support for each other.

Following graduation in veterinary medicine at Bologna University in 1992, David moved to the UK where he worked in an equine practice in Newmarket and then in a busy mixed practice on the outskirts of London. After 6 years he moved back to Italy and opened the ‘Ospedale degli animali di Ferrara’, a 24/7 hospital offering 1st and 2nd opinions and specialized in small animal care.

During his career he became passionate about Practice Management and obtained a several qualifications in Business Management. In 2017 he obtained a GP Certificate in Practice Management and Administration. He founded the GP.Cert (P.M.&A.) Course for SCIVAC in Italy and he is the Italian representative for ESAVS for Practice Management.

David has spoken at several conferences both national and international talking in particular about ‘sustainable growth of the veterinarian profession’. He is particularly interested in change management and growth and has spoken extensively on the subject of change in highly volatile environment such as the present in Europe.

Practice Management has become vitally important in Italy and is now recognized essential for practices to grow and succeed.

David’s passion is to help vets develop structures/systems to achieve success with a healthy work life balance, improving both the standard of patient care and the workplace environment and therefore the welfare of colleagues, clients and their pets.

Alan Robinson – MRCVS, Vet Dynamics

Alan Robinson has been a veterinary surgeon in practice for 20+ years, a successful business consultant for 18 years to over 600 practices and a director of Vet Dynamics.  His mission is helping independent practice owners improve performance and quality of life in practice.

For the UK, purchase and consolidation of vet practices started around 20 years ago with a change in legislation allowing non vets to own practices.  This has led to very large independently owned businesses and large partnerships and a handful of much larger ‘corporate’ vet groups.  This is in sharp contrast to much of mainland Europe where a fragmented market of small privately owned vet practices is still the norm.  But a number of the larger players who operate in the UK are now moving into Europe.  What are the lessons to be learnt from the UK, probably the most mature veterinary market in the world right now.  Can ‘corporatisation’ of the profession lead to a rise in standards?  Is there a danger that profit will be come more important than values? What are the alternative ways to exit your practice, including selling to your team?  What other models are available? Does maturity leave space for new start ups?  David Giraldi has worked in practice in the UK and Italy and has spoken at vet congresses across the world.  He explains why he made the decision to join Vet Partners in Italy and assesses the lessons that can be learnt from the UK experience.  He is in conversation with Alan Robinson of Vet Dynamics, a business consultancy based in the UK that works largely with independent practice.