BSAVA Congress and Expo: CMA & Panel Discussion

25 March 2025

At BSAVA Congress, our session on ‘The CMA Market Investigation: Where are we now and what to expect next’, provided insights into the current status of the investigation into veterinary services for household pets in the UK and a broad outline of what we can expect from the remaining elements of the CMA’s timetable.

Martin Coleman’s speech on behalf of the CMA, touched on some of the key areas from the CMA investigation so far. It emphasised the professionalism and commitment of individual vets and that 88% of owners considered their vets focus on the highest standard of care for their pets. Also highlighted was the increased public scrutiny of veterinary businesses in providing their services to owners along with compounding factors that have raised the profile of this issue. These include advancements in medicine, diagnostics and treatments; the cost-of-living crisis; and the significant rise in costs for practices and prices for owners. It was stressed that these trends have predated their enquiry, which in part is in response to pet owners’ concerns.

The CMA’s objective is to provide pet owners with a good choice of veterinary services and in doing so they recognise that businesses, in order to survive and grow, need to be financially viable. They acknowledge that efficient well-run practices that make a reasonable profit, are good for pets and their owners and that businesses which provide quality care have to charge prices that cover costs and allow for a reasonable return.

This is not considered new by the CMA but, in recent years the growth of the larger groups who now serve around 60% of the market have made this fundamental aspect more apparent. Although they note there are differences between large veterinary groups and independents, they both have to respect commercial realities to survive and prosper.  However, if those businesses are not facing sufficient pressure to ensure that the choices and prices offered to consumers are fair, it raises concerns for the CMA. In essence, CMA considers that a well-functioning marketing in veterinary services, is one where vets are properly compensated and pet owners can benefit from both efficiencies and differentiation by having a good range of choices at fair prices.

As part of their investigation, the CMA highlighted the areas under consideration – transparency, choice of medicines and the role of regulation.

At the start of the CMA enquiry, the CMA noted that 84% of vet practice websites had no pricing information, although they have since heard anecdotally that this has improved. To support transparency , the CMA consider there are many circumstances in which it is possible to convey pricing to clients, even if difficult to anticipate all scenarios. They are considering how far they might mandate to ensure greater awareness, thereby enabling owners to make comparisons. In terms of practice ownership, the CMA findings reveal that around 20-30% of owners are unaware that their practice is part of a larger group, so again, CMA are considering how transparency might be improved, including for affiliated services.

The CMA advised that medicines represented at least 20% of pet owners spend on vet services in the past year. They noted that many vet practices apply significant markups on medicines and a substantial number of clients are not aware they can purchase medicine elsewhere. CMA are considering how concerns around pricing of medicines might be addressed including how pet owners might be given better information about how businesses approach pricing of medicines.

The CMA’s interest in the regulation of our profession relates to the fact that it may have an impact on how businesses compete and client choice. In a well-functioning market, the CMA might expect sector legislation to ensure that practices can operate more efficiently and cost effectively such that consumers can be more confident in the services they are buying. Therefore, the CMA may provide a view in this respect. They may also consider if the Practice Standards Scheme (PSS) is operating optimally. The CMA are also considering how far the current regulatory regime contain sufficient mechanisms for monitoring, enforcement and supporting client redress when problems occur.

Overall, the CMA advised that they have not formed provisional conclusions nor indeed final views. They still have working papers to issue covering profitability and potential remedies. They recognise the importance owners place on their pet’s healthcare where in many instances it is considered as important as that of family members, including by owners who could by no means be considered wealthy. As a result, the CMA consider the price of veterinary services and the ability to exercise choice within a proportionate regulatory framework is relevant for them as a competition authority.

In conclusion, they advised their role is to decide whether a market is working well and they aim to consider pragmatic solutions that are proportionate and effective which work for vets, owners, animals and the sector overall.

Following the update from CMA, our panel invited members of the audience to participate in the discussion by sharing their views and putting their questions to the panel. For full details about the panel, please access the following link: https://bsava.com/article/cma-review-latest-update-and-what-can-we-expect/.

To access Martin Coleman’s speech in full, please access the following link https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/vets-market-investigation-an-update-from-the-inquiry-chair

For information on BSAVA resources to support the profession which were mentioned during discussions please see the following: BSAVA explainer on Veterinary Costs Access the PDF here. Also available are BSAVA assets on contextualised care Access the PDF here.