Premier Veterinary signs agreement for pet care plan in US

The five-year agreement is to introduce the Premier Pet Care Plan to Merritt’s 9,000 member hospitals located primarily in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana. The first pets on the plan are expected during the second half of the year.

Recruitment for the training programme has already begun and staff will be supported by Merritt’s 24-strong sales team.

President of Merritt Bobby Mins said: "I see the Premier Pet Care Plan as a great opportunity for Merritt as a distributor as this will significantly improve compliance rates on the key healthcare products with a consequent increase in sales."

Chief executive of Premier Veterinary Dominic Tonner added: "I am delighted to announce this deal with one of the oldest and most respected distributors in the south-eastern United States.

“The agreement will very significantly enhance growth and market share. Bobby's team have totally embraced our proposition and we look forward to working with them closely to improve the clinic performance of their customer base."

The Premier Pet Care Plan is a preventative healthcare programme for cats, dogs and rabbits and is available only through veterinary practices, which is available at an affordable price through fixed monthly payments. The number of pets on the plan as at June 2016 in the UK is 115,000 and 14,000 in the rest of the world.

Premier Veterinary’s shares were up 27.55% to 169p at 1605 BST.