Brendan Robinson. Qualified at University of Pretoria (Onderstepoort) in 1983. Brendan has worked in small animal practice for the past 20 years. He has attended numerous congresses world wide and many further education courses including a two year course in veterinary radiology. Brendan developed the Village Vet Practice from a two person one nurse practice in Belsize Park in 1988 to a 25 vet, 40 nurse practice over 12 sites in North London and Cambridge today in 2006. Brendan set up the Village Vet Group to provide the best veterinary care with vets who have further qualifications, to maintain a strong academic culture, excellent modern equipment and well trained qualified nurses, in clean hygienic facilities, and to provide excellent service to the local community. Brendan is married with four children, two dogs, Buddy and Truly, a cat, Sky and two tortoises - Jenny and Cowboy.

Since qualifying from Cambridge University Veterinary School in 1996 Alison has worked in small animal clinics both in the U.K and Australia. During her time in Australia she has had the opportunity to work in a referral veterinary hospital where she was able to develop her interest in emergency medicine. Alison also has an interest in feline medicine. Outside of work Alison is endeavouring to learn French, she also enjoys photography, travel and trekking. Alison has one pet, a very spoiled rescue cat called Charlie.

Pete qualified in Zoology & Microbiology before he qualified as a Vet in 1983 from University of Pretoria (Onderstepoort) in South Africa. Pete then moved to the UK to start his veterinary career in Somerset where he met his wife Maria. In 1991 Pete founded Maple Cottage Veterinary Surgery in Milton and remains the principal of the practice. He enjoys many aspects of his job, but in particular he takes great pleasure in seeing patients move through various interesting times of their lives, from youth to old age. The relationship he has with many of his clients means a great deal to him too and Pete treasures the community feel that he has gained from having a long-standing business in the area. He is privileged to have known some of his clients for almost 20 years and in some cases looked after generations of their pets! Pete's hobbies are motorcycle touring, snow boarding and distance running. Things that Pete does not like include cruelty to any vulnerable person or animal, depressing politics and wearing long trousers.

Gloria was born in the South of Italy where she graduated in Veterinary Medicine in 1996. She also started a PhD in infectious diseases, which she completed in the year 2000. Gloria moved to the UK in 2001 and worked in various small animal practices in Cambridgeshire before joining us in July 2006. Her main field of interest is internal medicine. Gloria has a wonderful daughter, a georgeous partner and four mad catscalled Millie, Mavis, Carlotta and Topsy. Gloria loves to spend her time with friends and family, going on holiday and sky diving when she has the time!

Jo joined our Maple Cottage practice in March 2006. She grew up in Scotland and graduated from Edinburgh University in 2002. She has worked in both large animal and small animal practices in Hertfordshire and Birmingham and is now enjoying the warmth and all aspects of small animal practice. Jo's interests include snow boarding and mountain biking. She has a border terrier called Clyde who is naughty but cute with it and a rescued cat called Inca.

Margaret (Mardie) graduated from Cambridge University and then went into general practice where she attained a Certificate in Veterinary Radiology. She then returned to Cambridge to undertake research, but she found she missed the contact with animals and their owners, and after gaining a PhD she returned to small animal practice. She now works mainly at the Cottenham surgery. She lives locally and has three children as well as a sheep, several chickens, two tortoises and a Dalmatian, Ben.

Zoë De Barro qualified from the RVC in 1997. After working in a mixed practice in Bristol and Hertfordshire, she moved to Cottenham in 2003. She has recently returned from maternity leave to work part time and is based mainly at Cottenham. Her special interests include ophthalmology and internal medicine. Away from work she spends most of her time looking after three children. She also sings alto with the City of London Chamber Choir which peforms in concerts and cathedral services throughout the UK.

Heather graduated from the University of Cambridge in 1999. Her first post was in a mixed practice in north Surrey where she worked for two and a half years, before moving back to the Cambridge area in 2002. She has been working at Hughes-Parry vets in Longstanton and Cottenham since then, aside from maternity leave with her two young sons. Outside work, Heather enjoys jogging with her dogs and can often be found at local toddler groups. She lives locally with her husband, boys, labradors Poppy and Jess, and cat, Harry.

Rachel qualified from Liverpool University in 2001. She spent the first 4 years of her career in very mixed practice, firstly in Devon, then in Herts/Beds. She has wide experience with all species including water buffalo, alpacas and even a camel. In 2005 she moved to work in small animal practice in West London, and joined the Village Vet Group in January 2007 as a floating vet. Her personal interests include cooking, eating out, running, swimming, skiing and travelling. She currently has no pets of her own but is a surrogate Mummy to a nutty Springer Spaniel called Mickey, and has three godchildren.

Danny graduated from Liverpool Vet School in 1999. He spent his first 2 years working at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home where he gained valuable veterinary and behavioural experience. Danny had worked with Village Vet as a student and was inspired by the veterinary and client care demonstrated by Brendan Robinson (Managing Director of Village Vet). As a result, he always aimed to come to work with the Group and this ambition was realised in 1992. Danny has a Specialist interest in Veterinary Acupuncture. He is married to Steph, who is an education officer at Battersea and has two lovely daughters Rowhan and Emily. His personal interests include scuba diving, body boarding and swimming. He loves walking with his family and 4 dogs.

Sean graduated with Honours from the University of Melbourne in 1994 and worked in a well equipped 4 vet practice in the suburbs of Melbourne for 5 years. This gave him a brilliant grounding in small animal medicine and surgery as well as radiology, ultrasound and endoscopy. This practice also had special interest in breeding work, artificial insemination, greyhound medicine and serviced the police dog squad in Victoria. He completed his Masters in Veterinary Studies in small animal medicine and surgery in 2000 passing all examinations with distinctions or high distinctions. After several months locuming around Australia he travelled for 5 months through the Middle East before moving to London. After a 15 month locum position in Upminster he joined the Village Vet team in May 2002. With over 12 years of experience he is the senior vet at, and manages, the Hampstead practice. Outside of work , he enjoys cooking, scuba diving, movies and theatre and loves to travel.

Village Vet has our very own 'Cat Whisperer' Justine qualified in South Africa in 1995 and joined the Village Vet team in 1996. She was the senior vet at our Maida Vale Clinic for 5 years working exclusively with cats. In this time she gained a General Practitioner Certificate in Feline Practice. Justine now consults at Village Vet Hampstead and Village Vet Hampstead Garden Suburb. She lives locally with her husband, three rescue cats and her baby girl, Saskia.

Caroline graduated from Melbourne University in 1987 and has over 17 years of experience. She has worked as a vet in London since 1997. Caroline has a lovely border collie, Bodie.

Laura is an extremely experienced and highly regarded surgeon in the vet community. She did an internship at Vet School and has also worked at the PDSA. Laura is a member of the British Small Animal Orthopedic Association community.

Gracia Vila is our expert on exotic pets. Since she qualified in 1998, she has worked as a vet in private practice and at the Royal Veterinary College Beaumont Animals Hospital, where her caseload has ranged from dogs and cats to a wide variety of small mammals, birds, reptiles and even fish. In 2002, she completed the Royal Veterinary College MSc degree in Wild Animal Health, and she is currently preparing for the RCVS Certificate in Zoological Medicine.

Emma graduated from Cambridge University Veterinary School in July 2000. She then returned to her home county of Yorkshire during the early part of her career. A long trip to Australia allowed Emma to fulfil a lifetime ambition, and work as a cowgirl for several months and also to qualify as a SCUBA instructor. In recent years Emma has worked for the London based Celia Hammond Animal Trust and the RSPCA before joining Village Vets in the summer of 2007. Visitors to our Highgate branch may already have met Emma's friendly and playful Border Collie, Djembe. Walking and ball games with Djembe takes up a large proportion of Emma's leisure time but she also enjoys skiing, cooking and horse riding.

Nicole graduated as a Doctor in Veterinary Medicine with distinction from Ghent University in Belgium in 1991. Before specialising, Nicole spent eight years in general prcatice in France, England and Switzerland. She became a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in 1996. She has lectured and published (publications) widely in the field of cardiorespiratory medicine.

Emma Styles is a qualified veterinary surgeon with over 12 years of experience, and an interest in the holistic health and well-being of small animal pets. She is a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society, and the Association of British Veterinary Acupuncturists.

Nikki attended the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon, Canada after completing her Bachelor of Science in biology. After graduating from veterinary school in 2003, she moved to Calgary and spent two years in feline practice at the Calgary Cat Clinic. In August 2005, she packed up her two cats Rascal and Chloe and moved to London where she joined the Village Vet group.

Robin is a graduate of the Royal Veterinary College in London. After qualifying he moved to Cambridge and went into general practice at Longstanton, where he soon became a partner. Having originally started his veterinary career in mixed practice, he went on to develop and expand the small animal side of the practice, opening a second surgery at Cottenham a few years later. Robin enjoys all aspects of veterinary medicine and in 1995 gained a Certificate in medicine. His interests include sailing, walking and ornithology. He is married with two children and has two Birman cats, Alfie and Oscar.

Andrew is an experienced and accomplished vet who not only acts as head surgeon at our Longstanton practice but also takes referrals of more complex orthopaedic and soft tissue surgical procedures from all our Village Vet practices and other external practices in the Cambridge area. Andrew graduated from Edinburgh Vet School in 1995. He gained considerable surgical experience spending three years working with the PDSA and during an internship at the University of Glasgow. He completed two years of post-graduate research at Liverpool University in the field of orthopaedics/rheumatology. His main interests lay in the treatment of fractures, osteoarthritis and 'reconstructive' aspects of soft tissue surgery.

Emma was born and raised in North London. She studied veterinary medicine at Newnham College, Cambridge University, graduating in 1998. Her first job after qualifying was in a mixed practice in Lincolnshire, but after two years she decided to specialise in companion animals, and spent five years at a large practice near Boston, Lincolnshire. Emma moved to Cambridge to work for Village Vet in 2006, and is thoroughly enjoying her work at the Longstanton branch. Emma is currently in the process of buying a house in Longstanton, which she will share with her Dalmatian, Florence, and three cats, Winnie, Ally and Charlotte. Her interests outside work include going to the gym, reading, dog walking, films and playing the piano very badly.

Jason is a highly experienced veterinary surgeon, qualifying from the Royal Veterinary College, University of London in 1996. In 2001 he obtained a post graduate qualification, the Certificate in Small Animal Medicine. His professional interests include ultrasonography, critical care, soft tissue surgery and all aspects of internal medicine, in particular canine and feline gastrointestinal diseases. He has worked in various veterinary practices in and around the London area, and also treated numerous pets and wild species during his travels around Australia and New Zealand. Jason is a member of the British Small Animal Veterinary Association and his outside interests include travel, film and extreme sports.

Russell qualified in 2000 at University of Pretoria (Onderstepoort) in South Africa. He graduated with top honours for his year, and following graduation spent some time in the USA as a small animal university intern. He has been working as a small animal veterinarian in the UK for the last 5 years and has an interest in small animal medicine, and is currently enrolled in a Modular Small Animal Medicine Certificate. He also has a BSc honours Degree in Wildlife Management, and has worked with most of Africa's wildlife. In his spare time he enjoys snowboarding, mountain biking and most other outdoor pursuits. He has a cat called Dave who rules the roost.

Ilan was born and raised in Israel, in a kibbutz just east to Haifa. He moved to London after graduating with Honours from the University of Budapest, Hungary in 2004 and worked in a busy practice in East London before joining us in July 2007. Ilan is based in our Winchmore Hill and Southgate practices. Ilan is married and has a Hungarian Viazsla dog and two budgies.

Simon Hayes qualified from Edinburgh University in 1994 and has been working in small animal practice ever since. Simon is a member of the British Association of Veterinary Ophthalmologists and as well as being a general practitioner has a further interest in veterinary ophthalmology. Simon is a partner at the Winchmore Hill and Southgate practices and has 3 children, 2 cats and a Border terrier.

Alison graduated from Edinburgh University in 1993. After three years in mixed practice in Yorkshire, she  moved to Australia where she spent four years in first  opinion and referral practice. She also completed a  post-graduate programme in internal medicine through  the University of Sydney.   In 2000, Alison joined the Winchmore Hill practice and  in 2003 was awarded the Certificate in Small Animal  Medicine by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.  Her professional interests include diagnostic  ultrasonography and cardiorespiratory medicine.   Her interests outside of work include dance, Spanish and playing piano.  Alison lives with her husband, daughter, and a ginger cat called Harry.  

Talia joined Village Vet in September 2006.  Since graduating from Cambridge University Veterinary School in 2002, she has worked in small animal practice in Berkshire and London.  In 2005, Talia took up a voluntary vet position with a charity clinic, the SPCA, in Fiji.  During her time there, she worked with the local central team and operated field clinics in the more remote islands.  Aside from treating individual animals, the clinics were designed to promote animal welfare and improve education.  Talia will be working towards a new qualification, a European Certificate of Advanced General Practice.  She has a cat, Rigsby, and a dog, Skipper, and enjoys photography, surfing and snowboarding.

Neil qualified from Edinburgh University in 1996.   Since graduation Neil has worked in small animal practices in Yorkshire, Hertfordshire, and also spent 12 months living and working in Australia. He joined our Winchmore Hill practice in 2005 where he continues to persue his particular area of interest which is surgery, and he is currently studying towards a certificate in Small Animal Surgery.  Together with his wife he owns a black Labrador called Dillion, and outside work he enjoys climbing, skiing, scuba and travel.