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 17 site group in North London and Cambridge today in 2009. 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, three dogs - a Golden Retriever called Buddy and two Yorkshire Terriers, Truly and Madley - and a British Blue cat called Sky.

John graduated from Liverpool University and after some charity work neutering cats and dogs in Thailand started working in mixed practice in the Peak District. In Summer 2007 he came to work with Village vet as float vet. He had already spent alot of time with Village Vet completing a number of work experience placements in the Southgate and Winchmore Hill branches since the age of 16. Outside work John enjoys scuba diving, surfing and running. He has a cat called Izzy.

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.

Philip Myles qualified from Cambridge University Veterinary School in 2006. During this time he spent a year studying Genetics, contributing to his Masters degree. After qualifying, he moved up to Northumberland where he worked a year as an intern at an orthopaedic and neurology referral centre before returning to Cambridge and joining the Milton branches of Village Vet and Vet24 in January 2008.

His interests outside of work include cooking and Canoe Polo, and you may well find him paddling up and down the Cam in training for his next tournament.

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 and four mad cats called 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 working part time at both Maple Cottage and Whittlesford.

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 DeBarro qualified from the RVC in 1997. After working in 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 her time with her three children. She also sings alto with the City of London Chamber Choir which performs 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 three 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.

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.

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.

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. She holds the RCVS Certficate in General Practice specialising in Small Animal Medicine.

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.

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.

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.

Charlotte graduated from the Royal Veterinary College, London in 2003. She spent the two years following graduation at a small animal practice in Suffolk. In 2006 she moved to Mauritius for 6 months to carry out voluntary work for the charity known as PAWS. This project involved working with the locals as part of a massive neutering campaign and promoting animal welfare and setting up an adoption scheme. After locumming for a period she joined the Village Vet group in 2007.

At present she is training for a half marathon and enjoys karate. She has got two cats called Squid and Austin.

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 Certificate in Advanced Medicine. She has a cat, Mungo, 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.

Janet Littlewood graduated from the Bristol Veterinary School in 1977 and then completed an Internship at the University of Pennsylvania. After a couple of years in general practice she joined the Cambridge Veterinary School as small animal Assistant Physician and subsequently was awarded a doctorate in 1988. For 12 years she was Head of the Dermatology Unit at the Animal Health Trust, Newmarket, with clinical and research interests in both small animal and equine dermatology.

Janet has over 20 years' experience in referral veterinary dermatology, built on a sound foundation of training and interest in general internal medicine. She holds the RCVS Diploma in Veterinary Dermatology and has RCVS Recognised Specialist Status. She has over 50 publications in peer-reviewed journals as well as contributions to textbooks as both author and co-editor. She is internationally recognised in her field, being an invited speaker at European Society of Veterinary Dermatology Congresses and other Veterinary Dermatology Conferences worldwide. She is a regular speaker at regional meetings and on continuing education programmes, renowned for her enthusiasm for her subject.

Dr Littlewood has now established an independent clinical referral dermatology service. She is available for consultations at our Milton surgery in North Cambridge.

Jamie qualified from the Royal Veterinary College in 2001 and spent his early years of general practice developing his surgical skills. In 2005 he moved to a large emergency clinic where his ongoing passion for Imaging and Medicine was ignited.

Jamie joined Village Vet Hampstead in 2007 when we began the development of our dedicated 24hour Emergency Service and now forms an integral part of our team based at Hampstead.

Jamie currently holds the RCVS Certificate in Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging and is in the process of completing his Certificate in Small Animal Medicine. More recently Jamie has begun to fully develop his passion in Behavioural Medicine and is currently part way through completing a Masters in Animal Behaviour and Companion Animal Counselling - necessary to become a full member of the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors. Jamie will soon offer a dedicated behavioural referral clinic in addition to his existing Western Acupuncture services at Hampstead.

Chris qualified from Cambridge University in 2001 and has spent his whole career in North London. During this time he has developed a special interest in small animal medicine which led to him to achieving the RCVS Certificate in Small Animal Medicine in 2006 followed more recently by becoming a Member of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists - Feline Medicine Chapter. His clinical interests lie in all aspects of  medicine but particularly feline medicine and the management of cancer in cats and dogs.

He has a Cocker Spaniel called Oscar who occupies a lot of his spare time. He also loves to cook and entertain.

Anna graduated from the University of Liverpool in 2002. She has worked with both large and small animals since graduating but has concentrated on small animals for the past 4 years. Anna has also spent time working as a volunteer vet in Thailand and Bolivia. At present she is studying for her general practitioners certificate in small animal practice. Anna has a tabby cat called Hobbes and a horse called Orla. She spends her free time riding her horse and competing in show jumping, dressage and one day event competitions.

Elsa graduated from Paris Vet school in France in 2003. She went on to complete an Internship in the biggest hospital in Paris, France before moving to general practice where she completed her Certificate in Internal Medicine. In 2006 she moved to England and worked in small animal practice mainly seeing medical cases. In 2008 she joined Village Vet as Head of our Intensive Care Unit at Vet24, Cambridge. Outside of work Elsa enjoys running, swimming and travelling back to France!

Paul graduated from The Royal Veterinary College in 1997. He spent a year in first opinion practice before completing a junior clinical training scholarship in 'Small Animal Medicine and Surgery' and then a three year senior clinical training scholarship in 'Veterinary Cardiopulmonary Medicine' at the R(D)SVS, The University of Edinburgh. His main areas of interest are clinical cardiopulmonary medicine and interventional cardiology. Since completing his residency he has been working in private referral practice. He recently set up an ambulatory referral service for dogs and cats with cardiopulmonary disease and runs a clinic at Village Vet Milton twice per month.

Nicola qualified at Edinburgh University in 1992. She has a little Shih Tsu called Squiggle who often accompanies her to the surgery. Nicola lives with her two children and their nanny. Nicola's Interests outside of work include skiing, cycling, dance and travel. Nicola is currently studying for a certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice (dermatology) and has a special interest in dermatology.

Sarah qualified as a veterinary surgeon from the Royal Veterinary College in London in 2003. She spent 6 years working at a primarily small animal practice in West Suffolk and then went on to spend 6 months working as a Fellow in Small Animal Medicine at the Animal Health Trust just outside Newmarket. In 2008 she gained a general practitioner certificate in small animal medicine and is currently studying for her RCVS certificate in small animal medicine that she hopes to complete in the summer of 2010. She lives just outside Newmarket with her husband and two very handsome black cats. Her interests outside of work include running, reading and playing the piano.