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Emmerdale Veterinary Surgery (also known as Emmerdale Veterinary Centre previously Tate's Veterinary Surgery) is located on Hotten Road and attached to Smithy Cottage. It was opened by Zoe Tate in 1995 and is currently owned by Paddy DingleVanessa Woodfield and Rhona Goskirk

History[]

The surgery was originally opened by Zoe Tate on 25th May 1995 after she started renting Smithy Cottage and converted the old forge for her practice. She brought on her assistant Linda Glover as receptionist and herself as a veterinary surgeon. Betty Eagleton also worked as cleaner on the premises for many years.

In February 1997Paddy Kirk arrived as a locum vet to cover for Zoe while she was dealing with some family problems but after a while she felt like she wanted to get back fully and commit to the business, so she decided to let him go in late April. However, Paddy returned in October when Zoe went away for a few days on holiday. During that time, Linda tragically passed away and in early November Zoe asked Paddy to stay on more permanently. 

Zoe and Paddy struggled with Linda gone and in December Zoe hired Linda's mother Jan Glover as receptionist as she wanted the job to feel closer to Linda. However, as Jan proved to be horrible at the job and started messing up their appointments, Zoe was eventually forced to fire her, despite struggling to do so knowing everything Jan had gone through.

In late January 1998 Zoe hired Rebecca Cairns as receptionist. However, she didn't last long as she quit in early April after having wrecked her marriage by pursuing a relationship with Zoe which ended with Zoe breaking it off as her feelings weren't as strong as Becky's. In late April, Zoe hired Kelly Windsor as replacement although Paddy was less than happy due to Kelly's bad reputation in the village.

In early September 1998, Zoe offers Paddy a partnership in the vet's, offering to sell him a 50% share for £45,000. The paperwork went through and Paddy officially became an equal partner in the business on 12th November 1998. In January 1999, Zoe and Paddy hired Lyn Hutchinson to temp for Kelly while she was dealing with her father's recent death.

In February 1999, the Vets practice got into trouble when Jack Sugden phoned to say he has an emergency at his farm. Paddy ordered Lyn to get out there with the equipment and wait for him but as the sheep kept getting worse and Lyn had seen Paddy do the procedure before, she decided to administer the injection herself which resulted in the sheep dying and Jack enraged. Zoe, who had seemingly lost her sense of judgement following events in her private life, fired Lyn on the spot and then clumsily tried to smooth things over with Jack, causing another furious row and the irate farmer to withdraw all his business from her. Zoe asked Kelly to return and then staggered Paddy by saying they'd give Jack £1000 compensation which he warned her against. When she made her offer Jack went ballistic and accused her of trying to bribe him.

By March the practice continued to loose clients as Jack had tainted their reputation among other farmers and they started loosing business to new vet Daniel Dean. However, Zoe got her act together in time for the annual Vet's ball and started repairing their relationships with some of their old clients. In May, Jack Sugden told them he was willing to come back to the practice although only wanted to deal with Paddy though Zoe soon patched things up with Jack when she was forced to go on an emergency call to their farm helped the Sugdens deliver a calf.

In February 2000 whilst recovering from her suicide attempt, Kelly told Zoe she didn't want to come back and work at the surgery as she wanted a clean slate. Also in 2000, Adam Forrester was hired as a vet but his time there was short-lived as he was sacked from his position by January 2001 after a horse owned by Lady Tara Thornfield suffered an adverse reaction to penicillin.

In 2003, Nicola Blackstock told pet owners that there had been a breakout of rabies at the surgery after Paddy dismissed her and hired Frances Marsden to cover her job although Frances quit after one day.

In 2005, Max King was hired as a surgeon at the practice. In September, Max used his position as a vet to get his father, Tom King, some land he wanted by poisoning the animals kept by the owners, Sandra and Craig Briggs, who refused to sell the land to his father. Tom had insisted he does this to show gratitude for allowing him to go to university but after the Briggs' entire flock died Max was wracked with guilt but Paddy took the blame for the incident and Max died in an accident in October that year

Prior to that, in September, Zoe decided to leave the village for good and sold the practice to Paddy. The practice started to lose customers as a result of what Max had done. In December, Paddy's old friend from university, Hari Prasad, arrived in the village. Hari convinced Paddy to let him become his new business partner. Reluctantly, Paddy agreed and the two men started building the business back up.

In May 2007, Hari was arrested after attacking his girlfriend in hospital. He was also questioned by the police regarding fraud at the vets' when Paddy's then-girlfriend, Rita, discovered evidence of financial irregularity. On 5th July 2007, Paddy visited Hari on remand and attempted to buy him out of the vets but Hari eventually sold his share to Rosemary King. However, her interest passed to her son Grayson Sinclair after her death in December 2007. Grayson went on to leave the village less than a year later. 

In March 2010, after being beaten up by Aaron Livesy, Paddy employed Rhona Goskirk as a locum to cover for a few days. Marlon was delighted with her presence and they soon became a couple. In June, wanting a new start, Rhona starts bidding on another practice in town but Paddy gets upset as he is also interested and they are bidding against each other. However, they both lose out and Marlon suggests allowing Rhona to buy a share in his practice. Working in such close proximity, Rhona and Paddy soon fell in love with each other and Rhona broke it off with Marlon. Quickly things became complicated when Rhona discovered she was pregnant with Marlon's child. Nicky Pritchard was hired in 2011 to cover Rhona's maternity leave.

In 2012, Paddy was suspended from practising as a vet for a year after he accidentally punched a police officer. Locum Brett Harrison was hired to cover but he didn't last long as he tried it on with Rhona. Rhona's old friend Vanessa Woodfield was instead hired as a locum in December and in April 2013, she bought a 33.33% share in the business.

After their divorce in 2016, Paddy gave Rhona Smithy Cottage in return for her share of the vets although promised she'd always keep her job there if she wanted it. In March 2018, Vanessa was suspended from veterinary work for 12 after a vial of ketamine goes missing from her bag. While on her suspension she instead takes the position of self-proclaimed office manager.  

In October 2018, the clinic was losing customers due to competing vet company Bargain Vets. One of the customers, Mrs Mills, remained loyal to the company, however, her cat Marmalade died in Paddy's care. In March 2019, the vets start to find themselves in severe financial troubles after Rhona has an accident up at Butlers Farm and the insurance refuses to pay out while they continue losing clients to Bargain Vets. Kim Tate catches wind wants to invest, buying a 50% share of the business. Vanessa and Paddy initially refuse but after Rhona informs them Kim is planning to open her own practice they reluctantly agree to sell her a 25% share to avoid losing any more clients. 

In April 2019, in an attempt to bring mother and son back together, Rhona employs Kim's son and veterinary student, Jamie Tate. She suggested to Paddy and Vanessa that they bring on a student, however, they are upset when Rhona hires Jamie without consulting them first. In late July 2019, Kim signs her share in the practice over to Jamie in an attempt to keep him in the village. The same month Jamie graduated and could start working full time as a veterinary surgeon. 

In December 2019, Rhona and Jamie get on bad terms after Jamie discovers that Rhona helped her boyfriend Graham Foster steal DNA from Jamie's daughter Millie in order to find out if she was actually Graham's. Jamie demanded that they fired her but Rhona instead furiously quit, upset that Paddy and Vanessa weren't backing her up.

Owners[]

A list of owners and their shares in the practice.

Date Share 1 (100%)
1995-1998 Zoe Tate
Date Share 1 (50%) Share 2 (50%)
1998-2005 Zoe Tate Paddy Kirk
Date Share 1 (100%)
2005-2006 Paddy Kirk
Date Share 1 (50%) Share 2 (50%)
2006-2007 Paddy Kirk Hari Prasad
2007 Paddy Kirk Rosemary King
2007-2008 Paddy Kirk Grayson Sinclair
Date Share 1 (100%)
2008-2010 Paddy Kirk
Date Share 1 (50%) Share 2 (50%)
2010-2013 Paddy Kirk Rhona Goskirk
Date Share 1 (33.33%) Share 2 (33.33%) Share 3 (33.33%)
2013-2016 Paddy Kirk Rhona Goskirk Vanessa Woodfield
Date Share 1 (66.67%) Share 2 (33.33%)
2016-2019 Paddy Kirk Vanessa Woodfield
Date Share 1 (37.5%) Share 2 (37.5%) Share 3 (25%)
2019 Paddy Kirk Vanessa Woodfield Kim Tate
2019-2022 Paddy Kirk Vanessa Woodfield Jamie Tate
2022- Paddy Kirk Vanessa Woodfield Rhona Goskirk


Current Employees[]

Veterinary surgeons[]

Receptionists[]

Former Employees[]

Veterinary surgeons[]

Receptionists[]

Other employees[]

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