Naomi Davies is celebrating 25 years at Park Vet Group in Leicestershire
A part-time job has blossomed into a long-term career for a valued colleague at Park Vet Group in Leicestershire.
Naomi Davies started as a part-time receptionist in 1998 but 25 years later is now client care manager for Park’s practices in Glenfield, Whetstone, Saffron Lane and Scraptoft Lane.
She says she’s enjoying her work as much as she’s ever done but admits her career at Linnaeus-owned Park kicked off with a spot of confusion.
Naomi said: “I’d actually applied for the wrong job at the wrong place! I thought the post was at Park’s Whetstone practice which was close to where I lived, but it was actually at Saffron Lane.
“I still went for the interview, though, and when they offered me the position I said yes, as I thought it could be an interesting job.
“I never thought I’d still be here 25 years later but I’m really pleased how things have progressed and I’m still enjoying my work as much as ever.
“No-one wants a boring job and that’s why I know I’m fortunate that the work here is so varied and interesting with no two days ever the same.
“I’ve also learned more and more and made a steady, gradual progression in my career. Little by little I added a few extra hours here and there until I could take on a receptionist’s role full time.
“I went on to become team leader, then reception manager and over the years I’ve had the lovely opportunity to get to know our regular clients and their pets.
“I was talking with one lady recently who has been registered with us for 20 years and it was really lovely.
“It’s so rewarding to see the animals grow and develop and to forge that sort of relationship with the owners.
“That regular contact also means you can really help to support those owners when their pets sadly come to the end of their lives.”
Naomi’s long experience of daily dealings with clients made her a natural to become the group’s client care manager in 2020, with the responsibility of overseeing all the practices.
She added: “It’s an extremely interesting role. There are always new methods and protocols emerging so we are continually learning more about how to best look after our clients and their pets.
“We’re also continually looking to see what more we can do, what we can improve, what we’ve done well and, just as importantly, what we’ve not done well.
“It’s a total focus on our aim to deliver a gold standard level of care, advice and treatment.”
Naomi’s certainly seen plenty of changes at Park and within the veterinary industry, and added: “The role of receptionist has changed immeasurably during my time here.
“When I first started at Park the first computer system was being introduced and everyone was nervous but now practices can’t run without them.”
Practice manager Harriet Tims was full of praise for Naomi and her contribution over a quarter of a century.
Harriet said: “Naomi has been a great asset to the practice, the team and the veterinary community. Her knowledge of our systems, procedures and most importantly our clients and their pets has been the backbone of why she is so valuable to the company.
“Naomi is a pleasure to work with and her ideas on our senior leadership team have shown why our team want to develop and grow with the business.”
For more information on Park Vet Group, which has practices in Glenfield, Whetstone, Scraptoft Lane and Saffron Lane, visit www.parkvetgroup.com.
