A walk down MWI memory lane
By MWI Animal Health
Culture and history through the eyes of two dedicated customer service representatives
Linda Ansell and Carolyn Cleaves know a thing or two about company loyalty.
Linda Ansell
Customer Service Advisor
Carolyn Cleaves
Customer Service Advisor
You've seen this company grow from the ground up, quite literally. What are your strongest memories of those early years?
Linda: I worked in the office, and we would take telephone orders. We would write them by hand and take the piece of paper into the warehouse where the guys would pick the order, pack it, and then a carrier would come and take the order away.
The bosses were working pharmacists, so during the day they were in their pharmacies. The two local veterinarians that helped start the business would pop in, but it was just basically myself and another lady in the office. That was Centaur Services.
As of 2026, Linda and Carolyn are 2 of the 197 people working at the Castle Cary site.
A timeline of MWI in the United Kingdom
Through all the changes you've seen over the years, what has remained constant about the people and culture at MWI?
Carolyn: It's always been a lovely bunch of people to work with, no matter if it was today or five years ago or 50 years ago. We all worked together as a team and got the work done and we had real fun times. It was lovely.
Linda: I tend to come into the office because I like to. I prefer the company. One of things that I really miss about the workplace now is there's hardly anyone in it, except the operations team downstairs. Obviously, they work through everything. We're on a par with those guys downstairs. You know them all by name.
What's a part of the business from those early days that today's employees would hardly believe?
MWI: More than a distributor
What began as two people picking and packing in a warehouse has turned into a complex animal health organization, with reverberations across the U.K. MWI Animal Health serves 3000 practices. 95 percent of the U.K.’s animal health market is aware of MWI, with 50% regularly purchasing from us.
Today, our enterprise offers practice technology and a buying group. The Merlin Practice Management System currently manages over 44 million pets and is the most used veterinary software in the country. The product team is constantly innovating to make Merlin better for our customers. It enjoys an average 4.5 customer rating across online review sites.
Over the years, MWI has released software and apps designed to smooth workflows, lower stress, and grow revenue. MWI Pet empowers pet owners to communicate with practices; the online store makes ordering seamless; and automated payments via point-of-sale terminals and payment links make chasing debts a thing of the past.
The MWI buying group proves there is strength in numbers. Its members enjoy group purchasing power that saves them money on the products their practices need. Support through financial reports and management tools broaden the value of the buying group, as does net-net pricing and the professional development opportunities.
In 2022, we became the first veterinary wholesaler in the country to open and operate a GPhC-licensed pharmacy. This fully integrated pharmacy management system reduces risk and enables our practices to have direct-to-customer fulfillment.
Of course, distribution is still the heartbeat of everything we do. MWI is the only veterinary wholesaler with two fully-stocked distribution centers in the U.K —one in Castle Cary and one in Stoke-on-Trent. We carry over 12,000 products with over 7,000 deliveries happening every week. Our hub and spoke model uses our nine depots to receive orders from the distribution centers. Orders are sorted into delivery routes for final mile delivery to our customers. Veterinarians rely on the convenience of next day delivery to keep their practices humming.
MWI continues to evolve, but our focus remains the same: caring for those who care for animals.
When you look at how much the business has changed over the years, what surprises you most?
Linda: That we've adapted to all the changes. Who'd have thought of me banging away on a computer 60 years ago? Yet, there I am. Amazing.
Who stands out as the mentors and role models who helped shape your journey at MWI?
Linda: You initially have very fond memories of the people that nurtured you from the start. Whatever team I worked in each of my managers has probably taught me something that I didn't know before and I have great respect for them.
Carolyn: Ken Youings—who started the company — he instilled in you about not being wasteful with our paper. A lot of what we were taught then stayed with me. I think over the years, it’s been quite challenging for us, when we've had different computer systems put in. But we've all managed to help each other and get to grips with it and had some stress and fun along the way.
What makes you most proud when you look back on your journey with MWI?
Linda: I think for me, it's still the sense of family. I feel totally proud that I've been part of this journey from where we were to what we are now. I think this company has allowed people like me to have the challenge of adjusting and adapting to what I'm now doing. The knowledge that we have about the way things work is second to none.
Carolyn: We've taken thousands of calls, but it's still lovely, even now, when you finish a call and someone says to you, ‘Oh, thank you so much. You've been so helpful today.’ And that makes you feel proud to think you've done your job right. You've helped the customer.
Linda: I had a call last week and their first words were, ‘Lynn, how great to talk to you. I haven't spoken to you for ages.’ And do you know what? It means the world. That is such an amazing thing when it's busy and somebody is talking to you like you're an old friend. I think most people will say our customer services are second to none. We must love it because we wouldn't be here after all these years.
What’s your wish for MWI over the next 60 years?
Carolyn: It’s a brilliant place to work. I've never worked anywhere else. And my wish is that it gets better and bigger with time.
Linda: It's this little tree that's grown into this massive oak. So, for bigger and better, for it never to die off. It's been my heart and soul all my life.
