Marcus G Harrington BVetMed MRCVS
Marcus was educated at Colchester Royal Grammar School. He graduated
from the Royal Veterinary College, London, in 1981. He worked in farm
practice in Wales and Cheshire until he returned to Colchester in 1986.
After a year in Australia, he joined what is now Ark Veterinary Centre
in 1989, where he has remained ever since.
Marcus has enjoyed membership of Colchester Golf Club, Colchester Rugby Football Club and Colchester United FC. He completed the London Marathon 2005 in 4hours 6 minutes, raising £4650 for St. Helena Hospice.
He is Chairman of CRGS Association (the PTA) and West Bergholt and Eight Ash Green Conservative Branch. He was President of the Essex Veterinary Society in 1999/2000.
Marcus is married to Liz and has 4 children; Freddie, Amelia, George and Henry.
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Peter Busfield BVetMed MRCVS Peter graduated from the Royal Veterinary College, London in 1980. He worked in mixed large and small animal practice in Ayrshire, Scotland until moving to Colchester to work for a neighbouring practice in 1985. After spending a year in Australia he joined the Ark in 1993. In 1997 he returned to Australia where he spent 3 1/2 years in small animal practice. In 2001 he finally decided to make a permanent move back to the Ark. Peter is a member of Stoke By Nayland Golf Club. He is Chairman of the Board of Governers of Stoke by Nayland School. Peter and his partner Nicky have 2 children, Emily and William. |
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Julie Gillingwater BVM&S MRCVS Julie joined the Practice in 1999. She comes from Aberdeen and graduated from the Dick Veterinary College, Edinburgh in 1993. Julie spent 3 years in mixed practice in Lincolnshire before working for 2 years in a specialist small animal hospital in Perth, Australia. Julie enjoys dance and scuba diving (NAUI qualified). Julie and her husband David are the proud parents of Anna Sienna. |
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Elaine Wild MA VetMB BSc MRCVS Elaine was educated at Ipswich High School and Cambridge University where she qualified in 2005. She worked for a year as a houseman at the Royal Veterinary College, London. Elaine joined our Practice in 2006. She takes a special interest in ultrasound so we have invested in a state of the art ultrasound machine to match Elaine´s skills. Elaine is married to Bob and enjoys running, keeping fit and travelling. |
Kate Simm BVSc MRCVS
We were fortunate to find a vet with the experience of Kate to cover Maternity Leave for Julie. Kate settled in so well that, now Julie has returned from Maternity Leave, Kate and Julie job share.
Kate qualified from Glasgow 1n 1995 and has been in small animal practice ever since.
In her spare time she enjoys painting, watching Colchester United and exercising her lurchers with her partner Clive.
Practice Manager
Shirley Haxell VN
Shirley is a qualified veterinary nurse who joined the practice in 1985. After several years of nursing Shirley joined the administration staff. Since 1996 Shirley has been Practice Manager and is a member of the Veterinary Practice Management Association.
Veterinary Nurses
Sue Turner VN
Sue joined the practice straight from school in 1993. She became fully qualified as a veterinary nurse in 1998 and is now our Head Nurse. Sue is responsible for hospitalised patients and the operating theatre.
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Laura Deer VN Laura joined our Practice from school in 1998. She qualified as a Registered Veterinary Nurse in 2002 under Sue´s tutelage. She is now in her second spell at the Ark. Laura is responsible for weight management clinics, waiting room displays and insurance claim forms. |
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Sarah Watts Sarah has worked extensively with animals including several years at a highly-regarded cattery. Sarah joined the Ark in 2001 and now enjoys what she describes as her best ever job. Sarah runs our popular weekly Puppy Socialisation Classes. |
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Laura Maddock Laura joined our Practice in 2006 from Writtle College. She has progressed quickly, performing procedures she had only imagined before. Laura is now firmly established in our nursing team.
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Kate Affolter
Kate joined the Practice in 1995, having been a client for years, with previous experience in personnel. She is now Head Receptionist with full responsibility for overseeing the implementation of practice policies.
Our other receptionists with their date of joining are:
Linda Horsnell (1997)
Linda has previous receptionist experience and returned to work with us after having a family.
Linda is responsible for account management
Pauline Higgins (2000)
Pauline joined our team from a history in the retail sector. Pauline assists Linda in account management.
Sam Parry (2003)
Sam had plenty of receptionist experience before joining us. She now deals with all the reminders
Kristy Amey (2006)
Kristy is our receptionist who falls into the ´once seen never forgotten´ category. See for yourself.
Carol Roberts (2008)
Emma Harrison
Emma joined our Practice in 2005 with years of experience in Clipping and Grooming. We require our staff to be qualified, so Emma went on day release at Writtle College and is now City and Guilds qualified.