TWO vets are renovating a cottage in Ferndown so they can start their own family-run practice.

Aidan Borrill, and wife Natalie, both 35, have bought a cottage on Wimborne Road West and building work has begun, with plans to open Ferndown Family Vets in January 2021.

Aidan said: “My wife and I decided in October 2018 we wanted to start up our own practice.

“The cottage we wanted had sold already but in January 2019 it was up for sale again.

“It was not the most straight forward because we needed permission to extend it to create enough space to run the practice.

“We started that at the end of February 2019 and we got permission at the end of November.”

Aidan said he has been a vet since 2009 when he started in Sheffield.

He and his wife Natalie moved to Dorset from Essex and decided Ferndown was the best play to start their own practice.

“We thought ‘why not take the plunge?’” he continued.

Discussing how he is building up a reputation before opening, Aidan said: “We have a Facebook group and we are getting out and meeting other people, meeting other like-minded people.

“We want it to be how practices us to be, a family run practice.

“Familiar faces and all super friendly.

“Our main focus is keeping the pets happy, making sure they are happy to come to us and making sure we are keeping all our clients happy.

“We also want people to come to work as happy as we are going to be.”

Aidan said initially they will only hire two nurses and reassess depending on how busy they become.

“If you see the same person regularly and have a long-term condition for example, it is easier to manage.

“Building work was stalled for a little while because of the pandemic but because my work was reduced quite a lot I was doing lots of DIY on the cottage.

“Because we are doing it for ourselves there is a huge motivation and enjoyment from it.

“We are achieving what we have always wanted.”

For more information, visit www.ferndownfamilyvets.co.uk