A NEW state-of-the-art veterinary practice in Kingswinford boasts high-tech facilities, separate dog and cat wards and is "more akin to an Apple store," bosses have said after unveiling the new venture.

Independent, family-owned veterinary group Harrison Family Vets, which launched last year, opened a new facility this week at Gatehouse Retail Park on Dudley Road - with the creation of six new jobs.

The group has invested £330,000 in the new surgery which boasts an innovative waiting area featuring bespoke pods, spaced at least two metres apart, giving clients their own space and shielding pets from the stresses of facing other animals in a traditional waiting room.

Each pod has its own screen displaying pet jokes and facts through to information about pet welfare and nutrition.

There are also four high-tech consulting rooms, an on-site laboratory, x-ray suite, operating theatre and ultrasonography; and the practice has separate dog and cat wards designed with mood lighting, aromas and music to create a calming atmosphere.

Tim Harrison, managing director at Harrison Family Vets, said: “We’re striving to push the boundaries of pet care, customer service and employee wellbeing, in an environment that is a long way from a traditional veterinary practice.

“There are very few practices of this standard in the UK and there’s no doubt our innovations will translate into the quality of care that our clients and their pets receive. We also offer a customer experience that’s more akin to an Apple store. We don’t have a reception desk, so our front of house team can interact with our clients and their pets more easily and crucially, only pet owners can join our team, because you can’t fully understand our culture unless a pet is an integral member of your family."

He said the surgery has already been "inundated with enquiries" and added: "We’re looking forward to meeting many more pet owners and their furry friends over the coming weeks and months.”

The practice will be headed up by West Midlands vet, Rosie Levene-Barry, whose innovative corrective surgery on a litter of Labradors born with cleft palates was featured in an ITV documentary.

The opening is the second practice for Harrison Family Vets, after it launched in Woodley, near Reading, last summer, and a third site is set to open in the North West later this year.