Becca Riley

After a few years at vet school down south at the University of Surrey, Becca graduated and moved back up north to her roots in Lancashire. Having grown up around the farming industry she has always had a keen interest in farm work and has enjoyed getting stuck in with various projects so far at the practice. Becca spent a number of weeks on placement at LLM during her time at vet school and it’s great to now have her as part of the team. In her spare time she enjoys playing netball as well as hill walking in the Lancashire countryside, especially if there’s a pub lunch as a reward at the end of a long walk!

Katie Arrowsmith

She graduated from the Royal Veterinary College in July 2019, and she comes from a dairy farm in South Lincolnshire. Katie has always been interested in farm work, in particular dairy, since before finishing her veterinary degree. So, coming from Lincolnshire, she’s headed west to increase her knowledge and skills in all things farm animal practice. Katie looks forward to getting out onto the farm and meeting you all! In her spare time, she enjoys walking and a good day out at the races with friends. Though, don’t count on me for any betting tips!

Laura Hughes

In June 2019 we welcomed Laura to our Whitchurch clinical team. Some of you will have met her out on farm already, but here’s her background!

“I graduated from Liverpool in 2006 and worked for four years in mixed practice in Snowdonia followed by six years as a farm vet for Cain Vets on the Powys/Shropshire border. In 2016 I married a dairy farmer from near Wrexham and took a break from clinical practice by joining APHA as a field vet. In Spring 2019 I accepted a part-time role at the Veterinary Investigation Centre at Shrewsbury where I will be working two days per week, and I decided to go back into clinical practice for the other three days. My clinical interests include surgery and obstetrics and working for APHA has given me an in depth knowledge of TB management.

“Outside work my interests include horse riding, running and swimming as well as being involved with the day to day running of the farm at home.”

Alun Beckett

BVM BVS MRCVS Veterinary Surgeon

Having wanted to be a farm vet from childhood Alun qualified from the University of Nottingham in 2013. He spent two and a half years in farm animal practice in the Home Counties before taking the plunge and moving ‘oop north’ to join the practice in October 2016. Alun has a keen interest in calf management and heifer rearing, and enjoys helping clients getting their young stock off to a flying start. Alun has an unhealthy obsession with running and all mountain sports, which he enjoys with his collie, Brathay.

Rob Howe

BVSc MRCVS Veterinary Surgeon / Director

Rob qualified from Bristol University in 2006 and then worked in the South West in a strongly farm based mixed practice. In 2008 he and Ian opened the Lancs practice together which has grown year by year since then. His interests in practice include cattle lameness and mastitis, being a seasoned Mastitis Control Plan and Healthy Feet Project provider. He is also strongly motivated to keep bovine TB out of Lancashire having seen the effect of TB in other farm communities. Outside of practice Rob likes to smack tennis balls, mountain bike and ski when he can.

Ian Cure

BVMS DBR MRCVS Veterinary Surgeon / Director

Ian qualified from Glasgow Vet School with a passion for farm animal work. He and Rob founded the practice in 2008. He gained the Diploma in Bovine Reproduction in 2012. His veterinary interests amongst others include fertility, lameness and nutrition.

Andrew Henderson

BVSc Cert AVP (Cattle) Dip ECBHM MRCVS Veterinary Surgeon & Director (Derbyshire)

RCVS Recognised Specialist in Cattle Health and Production
European Veterinary Specialist in Bovine Health Management

Andrew qualified from Bristol in 2007 and worked in a farm only practice in South West England and Wales for 7 years before joining Nottingham Vet School as a resident in dairy health and production in 2013. He gained a Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice in 2014 and a European Diploma in Bovine Health Management in 2016. Andrew has spent the last two years working as a consultant for Evidence Group providing whole supply chain advice to retailers and working with commercial clients focusing on nutrition and milk quality. When not at work, Andrew enjoys mountain biking, running and looking after his flock of sheep.

Claire Whittle

BVSc MRCVS Veterinary Surgeon

Claire graduated in 2014 from Liverpool and moved to Dorset where she worked in mainly dairy practice. She loves all things cow and is happy just being around them, either on fertility routines or seeing sick cows. Over the last couple of years she has run successful youngstock discussion groups and loves seeing clients getting engaged in this topic. She also enjoys sheep flock health planning and lambing season.

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Rob Hall

VetMB MRCVS Veterinary Surgeon

Rob joined the practice at the beginning of 2017 fresh after graduating from Cambridge vet school. A proud Yorkshire man with a faded accent, he is new to the area and is yet to be persuaded out of retirement to play rugby again. Coming from a dairy and sheep farm, Rob has a broad range of interests within the farming sector. He is especially interested in lameness, calf rearing and housing design–areas he has spent time studying in the US

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Sarah Hampson

BVetMed MRCVS Veterinary Surgeon

Sarah graduated from the Royal Veterinary College in London in 2014. She joined the team as the Dairy Intern shortly afterwards. She is a Black Country girl and is very pleased to be working close to home. Enthusiastic about all aspects of dairy vetting, she has travelled to North America to learn more about large herd management and calf health.

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Hannah Batty

BVMedsci BVM BVS MRCVS Veterinary Surgeon

Hannah joined LLM as the Dairy Intern having qualified from Nottingham University in 2013. Born and bred in Yorkshire, she enjoys socialising with friends in the local Young Farmers Clubs. Hannah came straight to LLM from University and has general enthusiasm for all aspects of dairy vetting (and for most others things too!) but in particular in calf health and heifer rearing.

Dan Stevenson

BVSc MRCVS Veterinary Surgeon/Director

Dan joined us permanently in 2008 and has since joined the Board of Directors. As well as having a particular interest in individual cow medicine and sheep health and production. Dan is pursuing further studies in nutrition and is especially engaged in all aspects of the transition period in dairy cows.

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Mike Christie

BVMS DBR MRCVS Veterinary Surgeon/Director

Mike joined the Practice in 2004. Previously, he was the in-house vet at Cogent, where he gained expertise in bull fertility and embryo transfer work. He heads up our ET team and is one of our Clarifide vets.

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Simon King

BVM&S DBR MRCVS Veterinary Surgeon/Director

Simon first worked in farm practice in North Wales before going to New Zealand for two years. He joined the Practice in 2002, bringing with him a wealth of experience in low input, grazing based dairy systems.

Bill May

BVSc CertCHP DBR MRCVS Veterinary Surgeon/Director

Bill joined the Practice in 2000 from an established farm practice in Macclesfield. He is a respected dairy vet, being an examiner for the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. He has particular expertise in calf rearing, mastitis and cell count management.

Kate Irving

Kate graduated from Liverpool University in 2020. She has a large interest in farm animal work, in particular mastitis and udder health. In her spare time, Kate enjoys keeping active by walking, horse riding, and boxing. Although her favourite things are going out to eat and baking.

Jenny Bellini

I’ve been mad about all things dairy since milking for a local farmer when I was at school and graduated from Bristol vet school in 2014. I stayed down in the South West for six years working for a dairy practice in Dorset’s Blackmore Vale – named vale of the little dairies by Thomas Hardy. I’m excited to be starting at LLM, closer to family and looking forward to the challenge of getting to know some new farming systems. I am particularly interested in nutrition (the root of everything!) and young stock management, and I have just started studying for my DBR with Rob Hall. Out of work I enjoy hill walking, beating with my spaniel and I used to captain a skittles team in Dorset – not sure they do that up here?!

Will Gratwick

Will grew up in Cheshire and graduated from The University of Liverpool in 2009.  He started his career in rural mixed practice in North Wales, where he developed a keen interest in dairy herd health. In order to further this interest whilst having an adventure, Will moved to South Africa to complete a three year residency programme and masters degree in cattle herd health at the University of Pretoria. This was followed by a year at a practice near Cape Town, providing herd health services and on-farm training to large dairy herds.  Despite enjoying the climate and lifestyle of South Africa, in 2017 Will decided it was time to move back to the UK.  After working in North Yorkshire he has returned home to the North West to focus on dairy work. His professional interests include all aspects of dairy herd health, especially mobility and youngstock health. Outside of work he enjoys mountain biking and trail running, as well as continuing to travel when possible.

Where is the best place you have ever travelled?

The Serengeti – there’s nowhere quite like it!

Have you ever met anyone famous?

I served David Beckham a few times at a pub where I worked as a teenager – he always had ham, egg & chips!

What was your favourite band / musician when you were 16?

Muse – and it still is!

Charlie Mays

Charlie graduated from the Royal Veterinary College and has worked for the last three years in Derbyshire in a farm only practice working mainly with cattle. During this time he has developed a keen interest in dairy fertility, production and business but has always loved the variety of beef and sheep work Derbyshire has to offer! Outside of clinical work Charlie co-founded ‘VetFit’ an organisation promoting exercise and sport as a way of maintaining good mental wellbeing. With his rugby days now over Charlie can be found playing golf at the weekends or out with his dogs Archie and Jessie.

Chantal Bryant

Chantal is an experienced vet with over 14 years in practice, starting out in mixed animal and spending the past eight years in farm. She brings with her a wealth of experience in the form of mastitis control planning, bull fertility testing, and preventative medicine on top of proven clinical and surgical skills in both cattle and sheep.

Laura Chesters

Laura is local beef and sheep farmer’s daughter and graduated from Liverpool University in July this year. Some of you may recognise Laura, as she was a Vet Tech at the practice for a few months over the summer in 2018 and she did lots of placement here as a student over the years.

She has a particular interest in fertility work in both cattle and sheep and hopes to explore this more during the internship. Outside of work she enjoys walking her two spaniels Lily and Beti and playing netball when she gets the chance!

Where are you from? I grew up very local to the Whitchurch practice in No Mans Heath on the family farm but I now live in sunny North Wales just outside of Ruthin with my other half on his dairy farm.

Have you ever met anyone famous? Bradley Walsh and Shaun Wallace (one of the chasers) when I appeared on “The Chase” a few years ago!

Tea or coffee? Tea – milk, one sugar, please!

Will Golding

Will graduated from The University of Nottingham in July 2023 and spent the summer setting up home in Derbyshire before starting work for LLM this September. Farm work has always been his end goal from the start of his veterinary studies, and he is excited by the variety of work that our dairy, beef, and sheep clients offer. Will is looking forward to developing his knowledge and skillset in all fields of farm medicine and surgery, but has particularly enjoyed cattle fertility work during his training, placements, and first few weeks in practice. Outside of work Will is likes to spend as much time outdoors as possible – he is a keen hill walker, fell runner, and enthusiastic (although hit-and-miss) clay pigeon shot. He is loving getting to know the pubs of Derbyshire (following the example of his colleagues!) and is looking forward to getting out on farm and meeting you all.  

Where are you from? I’m a proud Lancashire lad from Salesbury, near Clitheroe.

What is your breakfast of choice? Midweek it has to be boring old cereal or porridge (with PB + jam!) & A Full English is a weekend favourite… but we often have for tea, not breakfast!

Favourite ale and why? A Loweswater Gold in summer (can’t beat that Cumbrian delicacy), A Deer Stalker in winter (a proper dark winter brew from Clitheroe) & I love to dabble in a bit of homebrew with my brother in law.

Kate Ellen

I graduated as a vet in 2023 after 9 years of study at both The University of Nottingham and The Royal Veterinary College. Derbyshire is home, and I knew I wanted to stay local and build my career in farm animal work here. I am looking forward to continuing to learn lots from farmers and colleagues alike.

I spend my free time outdoors, walking my dog Sandy, often ending at a pub for a well-earned pint. Home-cooked food keeps me happy, as well as going on holiday!

• Tea or coffee? A strong black coffee to start every day!
• Favourite sandwich and why? Cheese + pickle – super tasty
• What was your first ever job? Waitressing – for 10 years alongside studying to be a vet

Erica Pierce

I graduated from Liverpool in 2015 and have worked in mixed practice close to home in North Wales since graduation. In 2021 I completed my CertAVP Cattle and enjoyed developing my knowledge on different aspects of cattle health and production. I am particularly interested in youngstock management, nutrition and ET. Having worked in Wales I have developed a keen interest in sheep and love lambing season. Summer last year I married a Chester dairy farmer so outside work I am kept busy with the calves and our flock of pedigree Texel sheep. Off the yard I enjoy playing hockey, baking and catching up with friends.

What is your favourite food?

I love all things dairy, but ice cream is my favourite usually honeycomb.

Where are you from?

I am Welsh born and bred. I grew up in Treuddyn just outside Mold on a beef farm in the sunny hills of North Wales.

Tea or coffee?

Always tea with milk -there aren’t many situations that won’t be improved with a good mug of tea!

Hannah Camassa

Hannah, originally from ‘The Wirral’, graduated from the University of Liverpool in 2013 and after almost 10 years of vetting in the sunny South West has decided to return to the North. Hannah has specialised in Farm Animal Practice since graduation enjoying a mixture of beef, sheep, dairy and goat work and is passionate about helping to develop the beef and sheep services at LLM. She has also worked in a high-risk TB area for her whole career and is keen to continue her work for the TB Advisory Service with farmers in Lancashire. She enjoys being outdoors, walking, trail running and eating good food (which is just as well being married to an Italian!). She lives with her husband and their three dogs.

Finley Jones

Fin graduated from Liverpool in July of 2022 and hails from the phenomenal North Wales. He spent his younger years obviously surrounded by sheep and lads who loved sheep.

Spare time gets filled with CrossFit and when the pains stop, rugby. His favourite colour is green and he has a love of food and good ale. When all the hard work stops Fin loves to jet off to the foreign mountains for a touch of skiing and some non-local ale tasting sessions.

Fin is just trying to find his feet before settling on an area of interest but sheep should be up there. He also spent a lot of time on placement in Cheshire so dairy work is something he is keen on developing his knowledge in.

Mikayla Davison

Mikayla graduated from Nottingham University this year having moved from home down south in Surrey. She decided that she preferred the countryside of the midlands so has came further north in the country to join the team in Bakewell. Used to the warmer weather in the south, Mikayla is often found on farms wrapped up in multiple layers. She developed an interest in large animal work during university and hopes that whilst working here that she’ll find her feet in farm work.

Outside of work, she enjoys a large range of outdoor activities including running, hiking, sailing and anything involving water. Now being in the Peak District, she is hoping to get into hill-walking and exploring the best of the places around us.

Give us an interesting fact about yourself – After spending most of my life as a non-runner, this summer I ran a post-lockdown-inspired half-marathon.

Where is the best place you have ever travelled? Yosemite National Park in California.

Tea or coffee? Can never go wrong with a good cup of tea.

Carla Bleasdale

After graduating from the Royal Veterinary College in July 2020, Carla completed a farm internship in North Yorkshire. She’s returned to her motherland here in  Lancashire to further her knowledge and skills in all things farm animal practice! Carla has always been interested in farm work, coming from a farming background. Outside of work, she likes playing hockey, socialising with friends and spending time with her 3 legged Italian Greyhound, Willy Wonky.

Victoria Hudson

Vicky is a Yorkshire farmers daughter who graduated from Edinburgh University in 2014 and undertook a farm vet internship in Cumbria. After 2 and a half years she decided to move to the sunnier climbs of Australia where she was a clinical registrar at the University of Sydney- teaching vet students and providing clinical services to farmers in New South Wales. She moved back to the UK in July 2020 to work for LLM Whitchurch and to teach at Harper Keele Vet School. Her special interests are dairy medicine, mobility and goat health. Outside of work she enjoys Young Farmers, clay pigeon shooting and flower arranging.