Meet our Team
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Paul Thompson
Clinical Director
BA VetMB MRCVSPaul joined the team in 1986 when the practice was mixed, and helped oversee our transition to becoming a purely pig practice. In his spare time, he enjoys hill walking with his Border collie, kayaking in the Lakes and off the coast of Scotland and watching wildlife in the UK and abroad.
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John Hayden
Clinical Director
BVSc MRCVSJohn runs Integra Veterinary Services in East Anglia, and has a wealth of experience within indoor and outdoor pig production. He is heavily involved in the implementation of preventative medicine programmes on farms.
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Gemma Thwaites
Clinical Director
BVSc MRCVSGemma joined us in 2007, and has a special interest in disease eradication and welfare. She works with various industry bodies, including the Pig Veterinary Society (which she was previously a president of). She is currently the senior vice president of the National Pig Association, and loves travelling abroad and in her caravan and looking after her dogs.
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Guy Wade West
Clinical Director
BVetMed CertPM MRCVSGuy joined us in 1998, and his work focuses on pig production. He has a certificate in pig medicine, and his interests include performance analysis and monitoring, outdoor systems and disease eradication programmes.
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Susan Walpole
Clinical Director
BvetMed MRCVSSusan manages Oakwood Veterinary Group’s pig veterinary services, and is an experienced pig practitioner. She has a keen interest in pig pathology and undertakes work for large pig producers, a breeding company and independent pig farmers. Previously a member of the Pig Veterinary Society Executive and Pig Health and Welfare Council, she is currently a member of the PVS Welfare subcommittee.
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Fraser Claughton
Commercial Director
BSc (Hons)Fraser spent 26 years working in the veterinary pharmaceutical industry before joining us in 2022. Garth was one of the first practices he called on as a sales representative in 1997! He is responsible for maintaining our medicine supplies and developing business relationships with our clients. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his family and their four dogs.
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Dimitrie Leonte
Senior Veterinary Surgeon
MRCVSDimitrie graduated from the University of Life Science in 2012, and later worked as a production manager for a pig business in Denmark, which gave him a comprehensive understanding of the pig industry. He has been with us since 2019, and works closely with industry experts. His main areas of interest are production management and disease control.
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Andrew Prince
Senior Veterinary Surgeon
BVMBVS MRCVSAndrew has been with us since graduating from the University of Nottingham in 2019, and has a special interest in consultation and training, especially supporting students and new team members. He has two cats and enjoys reading, walking and playing board games with his partner and friends.
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Toby Allcock
Senior Veterinary Surgeon
BVetMed MRCVSToby is based in Scotland, and joined us shortly after graduating from the Royal Veterinary College in 2020. He is involved in all aspects of our pig veterinary service, and has a particular interest in infectious disease control.
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Dawid Karpiesiuk
Senior Veterinary Surgeon
MRCVSDawid graduated from the University of Warmia in Poland in 2017, and later worked in a Polish pig practice for five years. He has a wealth of knowledge and experience, having worked on many different types of pig farms. His main areas of interest are herd health management and farm biosecurity.
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Brian Foster
Technical Support Manager
Brian joined the Garth team in 2024. His entire career has been spent in pig production, working and managing different production systems. This has given him a wealth of knowledge and an understanding of the pressures and difficulties encountered on farms, which he uses to provide practical support to our clients. He also has experience in training and developing team members, and has been an assessor for City and Guilds.
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Rachel Wilkinson
Practice Manager
BA (Hons)After graduating from Harper Adams University, Rachel spent several years as an animal technician in the dairy, cattle and beef sector, before switching her focus to office-based work. She joined us in 1998, and achieved her business degree from Hull University in 2010. In her role as practice manager, she tries to assist everyone as much as she can.
Meet our Support Team
Meet the rest of our team, who are vital components in making it all work.
Zoe, Jennifer, Marie, Helen and Clare work in the busy main office at Garth Pig Practice, assisting the vets as well as dealing with visits, auditing, prescriptions, certificates and customer care.
Elaine, Sharon and Laura run our dispensary service, enabling quick throughput of medicine orders via our dedicated order line: 01262 488724. Richard then ensures on-farm delivery of these orders using our van delivery service.
Kirsty, Jon and Jamie take care of all accounting and commercial matters.
Irene is our longest standing member of the team, taking good care of the premises and all the people inside it.
Integra and Oakwood: Sharon, Lynsey, Natasha, Emma, Cilla and Natalie, with additional help from Isabel and Alison, make up our East Anglia team, who work hard to provide dispensing and general support to our clients.
Meet the rest of our team, who are vital components in making it all work.
Zoe, Jennifer, Marie, Helen and Clare work in the busy main office at Garth Pig Practice, assisting the vets as well as dealing with visits, auditing, prescriptions, certificates and customer care.
Elaine, Sharon and Laura run our dispensary service, enabling quick throughput of medicine orders via our dedicated order line: 01262 488724. Richard then ensures on-farm delivery of these orders using our van delivery service.
Kirsty, Jon and Jamie take care of all accounting and commercial matters.
Irene is our longest standing member of the team, taking good care of the premises and all the people inside it.
Integra and Oakwood: Sharon, Lynsey, Natasha, Emma, Cilla and Natalie, with additional help from Isabel and Alison, make up our East Anglia team, who work hard to provide dispensing and general support to our clients.