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CVS Veterinary Group

Engaged Employer

A masterclass in mismanagement — easily the worst employer I’ve ever had - Anonymous employee CVS Veterinary Group Employee Review

1.0
Nov 27, 2025
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The employees who haven’t given up yet. Their perseverance is the only thing holding this place together.

Cons

My time here felt like working inside a slow-motion disaster. In my personal experience, the culture was toxic from the very top, driven by leadership that appeared far more concerned with the share price and acquisition than with the people keeping the business alive. Employees were treated as expendable, undervalued, and ignored. The HR “department” was, frankly, chaotic. There was no coherent structure, no proper grading system, no meaningful talent process, no functioning reward or recognition, and no strategic thought behind objectives or development. The systems and processes were so dysfunctional that they created worrying payroll issues — the kind of mistakes that should never happen in a professional organisation. The HR system itself felt like it hadn’t been updated in years and actively made things worse. IT infrastructure was another disaster zone. Basic tasks turned into daily battles due to outdated, unreliable systems. To make matters worse, the company recently experienced a cyber attack, which, in my view, only highlighted how weak and neglected the IT environment had become. This wasn’t surprising — it was the predictable result of years of underinvestment. Business performance issues were constantly swept under the rug. Instead of fixing glaring internal problems, leadership seemed to rely on acquiring companies or moving into new markets as a distraction tactic and to hide underperformance from the market. The underlying issues never improved — they were simply buried under the next shiny announcement. The lack of investment was everywhere: employees, systems, processes — even individual practices acquired by the company received virtually no investment after acquisition and are falling apart. People were left to struggle with outdated tools, inadequate support, and impossible workloads. Many staff were paid at or near minimum wage, and the expectations (and payroll processes) often made that effectively below minimum.

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CVS Veterinary Group Response
6mo
Many thanks for your feedback, we are sorry to hear that you don’t feel there is enough investment in our people. Our people are extremely important to us and we invest heavily in supporting them and the environment in which they work. Alongside modernising our IT infrastructure last year and implementing a new cloud-based practice management system, we also invested in over 70 sites to focus on improving our colleague and client-facing areas and we spent £34 million last year on facilities and equipment overall. We also believe in supporting our colleagues’ wellbeing, with a vast range of resources available and regular check-ins with line managers, alongside structured career pathways for a number of our roles and a strong track record of internal promotion across our network. Thanks, CVS Team.

Explore other reviews about CVS Veterinary Group

5.0
Jul 5, 2024
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I had the best time working here

Cons

Nothing bad to stay great job

3.0
Dec 4, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

not many that i can think off

Cons

not enough pay in the business, long hours

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CVS Veterinary Group Response
6mo
We're sorry to hear that you're not fully enjoying your time at CVS. Please do use one of the many available channels available to you to share your views so that we can try to understand and support you in your role. Many thanks, CVS Team.
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