Veterinary wholesaler first non-clinical workplace to be awarded Great Workplaces by BVA ‘Gold’ accreditation

It is the first non-clinical workplace to successfully secure Gold through the innovative scheme, which launched last year to help tackle workforce challenges around recruitment and retention.

Veterinary workplaces are evaluated against the accreditation framework covering four key themes: health and wellbeing; leadership and management; culture; and learning and development. Nupsala joins Swadlincote Veterinary Centre as one of only two veterinary workplaces to achieve Gold so far.

British Veterinary Association President Dr Rob Williams MRCVS said: “Huge congratulations to the Nupsala team for this outstanding accomplishment. Their Gold accreditation is a fantastic example of a positive culture in a non-clinical veterinary setting.

“Our profession is incredibly varied, and we believe that fostering thriving environments across all sectors is essential for tackling ongoing workforce challenges around recruitment and retention. We hope this Gold accreditation inspires other workplaces, both clinical and non-clinical, to strive towards gaining recognition for their teams.”

To secure accreditation the team at Nupsala worked collaboratively with a dedicated, experienced accreditor from a veterinary background. Its 24-person team demonstrated strength in leadership and management, positive culture, and its ‘no blame’ approach, with many staff comparing the workplace extremely favourably to previous employers.

Commenting on the achievement, Nupsala Chief Executive Greg McGarrell, said: “We were confident going in that this is a great place to work so we were delighted, but not surprised, to have that recognised with this Gold accreditation. We are a dynamic, fast-growing business with lots of different teams working here and in Europe and we really wanted to make sure that the foundations were solid before we grew the business any further - for us that means a happy workforce.

“We feel a strong duty of care for the people here and I think that’s reflected in this award. We’ll certainly take on board the feedback in our report and keep striving to improve – we want another Gold next time they come.”

As part of the process, Napsala staff completed an anonymous survey, which showed particularly highs scores for workplace culture. Staff reported very strong camaraderie and a ‘great teamwork culture’ both in small teams and across the office, which included the remote working sales team and staff based in Romania. 

To find out more about Great Workplaces by BVA and to register your interest in taking part in the scheme or to read about other workplaces that have undertaken accreditation, visit BVA’s website: bva.co.uk/great-workplaces