Meet our Team

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    Paul Thompson

    Clinical Director

    BA VetMB MRCVS

    Paul joined the team in 1986 when the practice was mixed, and helped oversee our transition to becoming a purely pig practice. In his spare time, he enjoys hill walking with his Border collie, kayaking in the Lakes and off the coast of Scotland and watching wildlife in the UK and abroad.

     

    Contact Paul

    01262 488323

    paul.thompson@garthvet.co.uk

  • John Hayden

    John Hayden

    Clinical Director

    BVSc MRCVS

    John runs Integra Veterinary Services in East Anglia, and has a wealth of experience within indoor and outdoor pig production. He is heavily involved in the implementation of preventative medicine programmes on farms.

     

    Contact John

    01842 879379

    john@integravet.co.uk

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    Gemma Thwaites

    Clinical Director

    BVSc MRCVS

    Gemma joined us in 2007, and has a special interest in disease eradication and welfare. She works with various industry bodies, including the Pig Veterinary Society (which she was previously a president of). She sits on the NPA Pig Industry Board as a veterinary representative, and loves travelling abroad and in her caravan and looking after her dogs.

     

    Contact Gemma

    01262 488323

    gemma@garthvet.co.uk

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    Guy Wade West

    Clinical Director

    BVetMed CertPM MRCVS

    Guy joined us in 1998, and his work focuses on pig production. He has a certificate in pig medicine, and his interests include performance analysis and monitoring, outdoor systems and disease eradication programmes.

     

    Contact Guy

    01262 488323

    guy@garthvet.co.uk

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    Fraser Claughton

    Commercial Director

    BSc (Hons)

    Fraser spent 26 years working in the veterinary pharmaceutical industry before joining us in 2022. Garth was one of the first practices he called on as a sales representative in 1997! He is responsible for maintaining our medicine supplies and developing business relationships with our clients. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his family and their four dogs.

     

    Contact Fraser

    07739 971601

    fraser.claughton@garthvet.co.uk

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    Dimitrie Leonte

    Clinical Director

    MRCVS

    Dimitrie graduated from the University of Life Science in 2012, and later worked as a production manager for a pig business in Denmark, which gave him a comprehensive understanding of the pig industry. He has been with us since 2019, and works closely with industry experts. His main areas of interest are production management and disease control.

     

    Contact Dimitrie

    07921 397471

    dimitrie.leonte@garthvet.co.uk

  • Alasdair MacLeod

    Clinical Director

    MRCVS
  • A man with a beard in a navy jacket smiles while kneeling outdoors, gently petting two pigs. The background features grassy fields and leafless trees under a cloudy sky.

    Joseph Lunt

    Senior Veterinary Surgeon

    MRCVS

    Joe started his career here at Garth in 2017 and has since worked with both indoor and outdoor animals.  He has most recently developed an interest in nutrition and its effect on pig production, with a Masters Degree.  He also enjoys giving training when he can and inspiring the next generation.

     

    Contact Joe 

    07711 641747

    joseph.lunt@garthvet.co.uk

     

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    Dawid Karpiesiuk

    Senior Veterinary Surgeon

    MRCVS

    Dawid graduated from the University of Warmia in Poland in 2017, and later worked in a Polish pig practice for five years. He has a wealth of knowledge and experience, having worked on many different types of pig farms. His main areas of interest are herd health management and farm biosecurity.

     

    Contact Dawid

    07873 301540

    dawid.karpiesiuk@garthvet.co.uk

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    Brian Foster

    Technical Support Manager

    Brian joined the Garth team in 2024. His entire career has been spent in pig production, working and managing different production systems. This has given him a wealth of knowledge and an understanding of the pressures and difficulties encountered on farms, which he uses to provide practical support to our clients. He also has experience in training and developing team members,  and has been an assessor for City and Guilds.

  • Rachel Wilkinson Garth

    Rachel Wilkinson

    Practice Manager

    BA (Hons)

    After graduating from Harper Adams University, Rachel spent several years as an animal technician in the dairy, cattle and beef sector, before switching her focus to office-based work. She joined us in 1998, and achieved her business degree from Hull University in 2010. In her role as practice manager, she tries to assist everyone as much as she can.

     

    Contact Rachel

    077123 55949

    rachel@garthvet.co.uk

Meet our Support Team

Meet the rest of our team, who are vital components in making it all work.

Zoe, Jennifer, Marie, Helen and Clare work in the busy main office at Garth Pig Practice, assisting the vets as well as dealing with visits, auditing, prescriptions, certificates and customer care.

Elaine, Sharon and Laura run our dispensary service, enabling quick throughput of medicine orders via our dedicated order line: 01262 488724.  Richard then ensures on-farm delivery of these orders using our van delivery service.

Kirsty, Jon and Jamie take care of all accounting and commercial matters.

Irene is our longest standing member of the team, taking good care of the premises and all the people inside it.

Integra : Sharon, Lynsey, Natasha, Emma, Cilla and Gabrielle, make up our East Anglia team, who work hard to provide dispensing and general support to our clients.