Our series on “Champions for Change” features people of any gender in any role who are making a difference and creating positive change for women in the veterinary sector – enabling aspirations, inspiring and supporting others to grow and follow their passions, and empowering our community.
Caroline Collins BVetMed MRCVS CertFeLP is Chief Operating Officer of Pennard Vets, the world’s largest employee-owned vet group, based across the southeast of England. Caroline has worked within this practice group for over 20 years and has been a propeller for positive change continuously, and most importantly keeping the wellbeing of patients and the team at the forefront of her mind. She has achieved a B Corp accreditation, embraced new technology and advocated for Pennard Vets to become Employee-Owned. Caroline Collins was nominated by an industry professional, who said: “She has led or helped lead change initiatives through ownership structure (employee ownership), client and patient experience, as well as technological innovation.”
Read on to find out more about how Caroline inspires and encourages other women in the veterinary sector:
I qualified from the RVC in 2002 and spent a brief time in mixed practice before joining Pennard Vets, where I’ve now been working for just over 20 years. I had visited Pennard Vets as a student and was delighted to make this a long-term role. A big part of what excited me was the fact that I could see that the team were given a voice to suggest change. Within my role, I was given the chance to experiment and see how we could improve continuously within practice. This has led to my role evolving over the years, from becoming a director, navigating our journey with my fellow directors Matthew Flann and Andy Green, to becoming an employee ownership trust and lastly, being promoted to my current position as chief operating officer, all while steering how we deliver veterinary medicine.
Please summarise how you are working towards change in the veterinary professions and why do you feel this is important?
A big part of what excited me when joining Pennard Vets was the fact that we were given autonomy as a team, which can be difficult to find and identify when looking at jobs. When I think about the change that we’ve made, it’s about evolving to continue to uphold the values of our profession – but improving the way in which we do that, sustainably for the team, for our clients and for the planet. It’s from this basis that we have made the decision to become employee-owned, to receive B Corp accreditation and to embrace new technology. Our most recent acknowledgment by SPVS winning the SPVS Excellence Award for Team and Self Development was fantastic for the team, reinforcing how change is positive as it leads to improvement.
How do you feel this is making a difference?
Change is not always easy to quantify as you don’t have the control group of ‘no change’ to measure against. What we can judge are the benefits of our improvements. A great example of this was embracing virtual client communication back in 2020. When we beta tested PetsApp as a client communication tool we gave both the team and our clients access to the platform and allowed them to use it in the way that felt best for them. By doing so it’s significantly improved both patient welfare, with clients reaching out earlier with concerns, and patient management by the teams having regular meaningful communication.
What motivated you to want to change things?
As with most vets, my motivation to create change is to improve outcomes, and often this is based on evidence. However, some of the bigger changes we have made have been based on a feeling that it would be the right thing to do.
How have you encouraged other people to get on board with your ideas?
Within our team, we explain changes and how they meet with our practice values to help everyone understand the reason for change. We always find that at least some of the team can see the benefits from the start and are excited by the concept, making them ideal candidates to lead the project. This allows us to get change off the ground and to gather evidence to demonstrate the pros and cons of the change. Once any teething issues have been resolved and we feel the change is ready to be fully adopted it’s then much easier to bring everyone on board.
What are the biggest challenges you have encountered in this journey and how have you overcome them? “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it!” Resistance to change is always the biggest challenge. But communication is your biggest ally, with an understanding that motivations will be different for different people within the team. That’s why it’s important to communicate any change in different ways or to different audiences to ensure that everybody is on board and comfortable with what they’re being asked to do.
What has most helped and motivated you along the way?
What has helped most is being allowed to safely fail, as this is where some of the best lessons have come from.
What is the best advice you’ve been given, or that you would give to someone else, about driving positive change?
It’s evolution not revolution. That was the advice given to me by a senior vet when I started out and wanted to make changes. What I learned was to explain your change and find your first followers – those that will help you so that you can demonstrate the change and its positive benefits.
What are your next steps to continue creating change for the better?
I plan to keep looking for areas of improvement and to keep listening inside and outside of our industry for solutions. Most of our solutions are not unique – they come from seeing how others have solved the same problems in other industries and working out how best to apply them for the benefit of our team, clients and patients.
In honour of International Women’s Day on March 8th, 2025, we assembled a collection of ‘Champions for Change’ profiles into a free eBook. Explore exclusive stories highlighting inspirational figures driving positive change for women in veterinary.
Our thanks to Caroline for sharing her inspiring story of how she is championing change. If you would like to nominate a Champion for Change or share your story, please let us know.
For exclusive access to more stories like this, subscribe to our monthly newsletter
You may also like:
Veterinary Woman Champions for Change – Nada Al Balushi
Veterinary Woman Champions for Change – Sanam Peighambarzadeh
Veterinary Woman Champions for Change – Julie Rosser