The CMA remedies are here:
Here's where to start
The dust has settled on the CMA's final report.
We've had a few weeks to digest, workshop it and work out what it actually means in practice – and now it's time to get on with things.
The verdict is considerably better than the doomsday scenarios that have been circulating for the past couple of years.
The commercial catastrophe we feared hasn't materialised. The findings are, in places, reasonable – and in a handful of areas, actively exciting. I'll get to those.
But here's the thing about having 12 to 18 months to comply with most of the remedies: that timeline is an invitation to forget all about the CMA for a while.
I get it, but that’s not the right reaction.
The practices that get ahead of this now – not because they have to, but because they want to – will come out of the other side stronger, more trusted and better positioned than those who wait for the regulations to land and then scramble.
Here's where I'd start.
Health plan
communications
Show your workings
This one I'm genuinely enthusiastic about, so let’s start here.
The CMA flagged that advertising savings figures without substantiating them is a problem.
I agree. I've always agreed. Telling a client they'll "save up to £X" on your health plan, without showing them exactly how you arrived at that number, is both less persuasive and – now – non-compliant.
The fix is straightforward, and it's one we've been pushing our clients towards for a long time: show your workings.
Take the standard annual cost of the treatments included in your plan – the vaccinations, the flea and worm treatments, the health checks – price them individually, and lay the comparison out clearly.
Not in a way that requires a maths degree to follow. In plain language, with real numbers, that a client can read in 30 seconds and think: yes, that makes sense.
Done well, this isn't a regulatory burden. It's the most persuasive thing you can put in a health plan leaflet.
We believe in the value of our plans. If you believe in yours, prove it. The CMA has just given you a very good reason to.
Pricing transparency
Your audit starts today
The CMA is requiring practices to publish comprehensive price lists for standard services – consultations, common procedures, diagnostics, written prescriptions and cremation options.
For any treatment expected to exceed £500, a written estimate is required in advance. Itemised final bills will become the norm.
Before you start worrying about the mechanics of implementing all of that, I want you to do something simpler.
Go to your website right now as if you're a well-meaning first-time client – someone who's just moved to the area, has a new puppy and has never used your practice before.
What can you actually find out about what you charge before you pick up the phone?
In my experience, the gap between what a practice thinks is clear and what that first-timer can actually find is almost always significant.
Most practices know this, if they're honest.
We've been encouraging practices to be transparent about their "shoppable" prices – the things people will Google before they choose a vet – for years. Consultation fees. Vaccination prices. Neutering costs.
The things a client will check before they ever walk through your door.
The CMA has now formalised that list considerably.
What you'll need to publish goes further than most practices currently show: health plan comparison costs – showing the price difference for the same services with and without a plan – along with a clear explanation of how that calculation was made.
Your most commonly used parasiticide products will need to be listed too, broken down by size, dosage and formulation, covering anything that sold more than 100 units in the previous year, or your top 10 products if fewer than 10 reach that threshold.
None of this should feel threatening. It should feel like an opportunity to show your workings.
The practices I've seen do this well don't just publish a price list and leave it there – they contextualise it. They explain why they charge what they charge, what's included and what genuinely good value looks like.
That’s turning an admin burden into an opportunity to grow your practice.
Ownership
Say it clearly, then say why it matters
Practices will be required to make clear in their public branding what their ownership is, including if they are part of a large group.
The corporate groups like CVS and IVC have raced out of the blocks.
For independent practices, it's a gift. But only if you use it properly.
We've been saying this for years, and I'll say it here again: just telling people you're independent isn't enough.
The percentage of pet owners who choose vets based purely on their ownership structure is tiny, and large veterinary groups are already finding ways to associate themselves with the perceived benefits of independence.
Simply putting "independently owned" on your website and expecting it to do the work isn't a strategy.
What clients actually want to know is what your independence means for them. How does it manifest in the decisions you make? How does it affect the way you operate day to day?
We've written about this in depth elsewhere – the blogs on differentiation and on avoiding clichés are worth a read if you haven't already – but the short version is this: independence is only a differentiator when you explain it in concrete terms.
Who owns the practice? Why did they start it? What decisions have they made because they're independent that they couldn't have made as part of CVS? What does it actually look like for the client in the room?
Answer those questions on your website, and you've turned a compliance requirement into some of the most compelling copy you'll ever write.
Three more opportunities worth taking seriously
The pricing and ownership requirements will rightly get most of the attention, but there are some other areas in the remedies that I think deserve a closer look.
These sit slightly outside pure marketing, but they're areas where we're more than happy to help clients think through the practicalities.
RVN scope expansion
This was one of my favourite outcomes from the final report, and I don't think it's getting enough attention yet. The CMA has backed the expansion of what registered veterinary nurses are permitted to do – and the protection of their title. For practices, this is an opportunity to communicate to clients what RVNs do, and what the expansion of their role means for the quality of care a pet receives. That's a conversation most clients haven't had. When framed well, it's a story about depth and expertise. Getting in front of that narrative now, before it's imposed on you by regulation, is both the right thing to do and makes great business sense.
AI note-takers and itemised estimates
I raised this in our March newsletter and I'll raise it again here, because I think it's almost uncanny that just as a new, arduous and admin-heavy requirement is introduced, there has been a technological leap rushing in to provide the solution. The requirement for itemised estimates at the point of consultation is one that AI note-taking tools are particularly well placed to help with. A tool that's already summarising a consultation can, with the right setup, generate a written cost breakdown at the same time. That's not a future possibility – it's available now. If you haven't looked at what's out there, it's where I recommend investing your time.
The estimate conversation
Written estimates for treatments over £500 are coming. The regulation is the easy part. The harder part is cultural – getting a team comfortable having detailed cost conversations before treatment begins, in a way that feels natural and not transactional. This is a training and scripting challenge as much as anything. The practices that handle it best will be the ones who've been practising these conversations before they're required to have them, not the ones who add a new step to the checkout process at the last minute.
The bigger picture
Here's what all of this adds up to, if you step back and look at it.
The practices that will benefit most from the CMA remedies are the ones who don't treat them as a compliance exercise ten minutes before the deadline.
Every one of these requirements – pricing transparency, ownership disclosure, substantiated health plan claims, clearer estimates – is also, done well, a piece of client communication that builds trust.
Transparency isn't a concession, it's a value. And the practices that can say, genuinely and credibly, that they've always believed in being open with their clients – about what they charge, about who they are, about the value they offer – will find that the CMA's requirements align perfectly with the story they're already telling.
For everyone else, this is the moment to start telling it.
If you want to talk through what any of this looks like in practice for your business, you know where we are.
Vet practice marketing
To us it's personal
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