Organisational background

Coach House Vets is a proudly independent small animal and equine veterinary practice that has been serving clients in West Berkshire, Hampshire, Wiltshire and Oxfordshire for over 40 years.

The practice is in a lovely, rural village in a beautiful converted coach house in an area of rolling downland. The current owner and principal vet, Chris Tufnell, took over the running of the practice in 2005.

Organisational aims & mission

Chris set out to create a practice that was the best possible place to work and the best possible place to bring your animal.

He has a light-touch management style, preferring to allow the team to get the job of preventing clients and their animals from suffering the harms of animal disease done in their own style and character.

After “care with kindness” one of our main values is “make their day” which applies as much to our team as it does our clients. We aim to make our client’s encounters with Coach House the highlight of their day.

Watch back our interview the boss here!

Our team has come up with a list of values that we review regularly:

• Care with kindness – we understand that true happiness comes from within. Showing great care and kindness to those that you work with and the clients and animals that you encounter ultimately leads to your own happiness.
• Make their day – we like to under-promise and over-deliver. We show little acts of kindness by dropping off medications at clients’ homes, helping people in from the car, serving teas and coffees and sending flowers to those that have had bad news.
• Create fun, happiness and a little crazy! – frequent, inclusive and kind laughter improves everyone’s day!
• Embrace and drive change – we are always seeking to improve and believe that we should never standstill. However, we take great care not to lose the good things from the past either.
• Be adventurous, creative and open-minded – we encourage engagement with the wider community, either local or national, and celebrate each other’s hobbies.
• Be curious, pursue growth and learn – continual, life-long improvement is our goal. Things can always get better!
• Be determined and passionate – stand up for your principles and don’t be afraid to share them with those around you.
• Build open and honest relationships through communication – give a little of yourself in all your encounters. You won’t lose anything, in fact probably the opposite.
• Build a positive team and family spirit – take part in making the place a place that you want to be.
• Care for each other and show gratitude – remember it’s not just about you. Give before you take and be grateful for what others do for you.
• Care for the environment – we constantly challenge ourselves to follow greener principles.
• Take responsibility and be humble – we apologise quickly if we make mistakes and recognise them as opportunities to improve. We celebrate each other’s successes before our own.

Coach House Vets is a family where we set out to make each and every day a good one for ourselves, our teammates and the clients and animals we serve.

We allow plenty of time for the job to be done well leading to a great feeling of satisfaction and our team go home in reasonable time with enough energy to enjoy their out of work activities.