WORK is underway on a £400,000 expansion to transform a Stockton-on-Tees veterinary practice into a modern, vibrant surgery.
Grange Vets plans to double the size of the practice on Norton Road to improve the service offered to pet owners across Teesside.
The practice has bought the neighbouring house to extend the size of its waiting room and facilities, and also plans to expand on disused land it owns at the back of the building.
The first phase of building work on a bigger waiting room, reception and four consult rooms started this month, before the existing building will be redeveloped to create new surgical and an imaging suite with x-ray machine and ultrasound.
Building work is expected to last four months, but the practice is hoping to minimise disruption for clients and their pets.
VetPartners, a UK-wide veterinary group which owns Grange Vets, is funding the project.
VetPartners Business Development Director Jason Atherton, who is overseeing the project, said: “The re-development of Grange Vets is going to totally revolutionise the practice and the service it provides.
“By building a new reception area first, it means we can lessen disruption for clients.
“The new-look surgery will be both modern and functional, creating a great place to work, and transforming facilities and services for clients and their pets.
“The surgery is growing all the time and there is potential to attract more clients to the practice.”
Grange Vets currently employs four vets, six veterinary nurses and four admin and reception staff, and the expansion could see an increase in jobs.
The project will increase the size of the current premises from 150 square metres to 300 square metres.
The re-development work coincides with Grange Vets being accredited as a Small Animal General Practice in the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Practice Standards Scheme.
Around half the practices in the UK are accredited under the voluntary Practice Standards Scheme, which quality assures practices and their facilities