The Competition and Markets Authority's release of 24 March 2026 described the market before its Order: "Less than 40% of practices have prices on their websites - they cover few services and are sometimes hard to find."
On 22 September 2026 the CMA made the Veterinary Services Market Investigation Order 2026, which came into force the next day and sets dates for what a practice website carries.
What the Order puts on a practice website, and when
Which dates apply turns on size, counted in first opinion practices and out-of-hours centres: 15 or more makes a Large Veterinary Business, fewer than 15 a Small one (Article 2). The Article 3 dates for what goes on a practice website:
| On the website | Large (15 or more) | Small (fewer than 15) |
|---|---|---|
| Price list, practice information, parasiticide price list (if you sell them directly), pet care plan information (if you offer plans) | 22 December 2026 | 22 March 2027 |
| End-of-life care options, each set out with equal prominence | 22 December 2026 | 22 March 2027 |
| The complaints process and the RCVS Decision Tree | 22 March 2027 | 22 March 2027 |
| Ownership information, for groups and networks, including one business running more than one practice | 22 March 2027 | 22 March 2027 |
| The RCVS written-prescription literature | 22 June 2027 | 22 September 2027 |
The Part 2 items (price list, practice, ownership, parasiticide and plan information) must each be reachable from the homepage by a clearly labelled link in no more than two clicks, "unless stated otherwise in the Article" (Article 4(2)); for the price list it says one. As at 10 October 2026 the CMA's updated explainer is still to come, so we build from the Order itself.
The price page
Article 7(4) puts the price list "a maximum of one click away from the homepage", on a page that uses "price", "prices", "pricing" or "fees" in its navigation and metadata. Its content is fixed too: the Schedule 1 items you offer, under the Schedule's names with no free text, six bands from cat to giant dog where a price varies by species or weight, checkboxes on the dental, castration and spay rows, VAT in every price, and a statement that the prices "relate to the typical case" (Article 7(2)).
It must change "before any revised price is charged to Pet Owners" (Article 7(5)), so the brief says who changes it. A site we build keeps its copy in code, so edits come through us unless you add an editor (a Web Development add-on), and a Maintenance plan carries monthly hours for copy edits. The general law adds a line of its own (UK website legal checklist): prices that say whether tax and delivery are included.
Four places a redesign brief can miss
The owner's name, beyond the banner. For a group or network (the Order's term includes one business running more than one practice), the owner's or group's name goes in the homepage banner, "within the metadata of all webpages", in search results and, where clients visit the premises, in map results (Article 5(4)). For results it cannot directly control, the business is not in breach if it has made "all reasonable representations to, and requests of" whoever does (Article 5(5)). On our reading, metadata includes structured data, so the name goes into every page template.
The prescription literature. The RCVS's literature sits "within a maximum of two (2) clicks from the homepage", and the practice makes any RCVS update "within one month of being notified" (Article 14(4) and 14(5)). Our build checklist names who in the practice receives that notice.
The booking confirmation. The first digital message confirming a consultation booking carries its price and "a link to the webpage where the Price List is published" (Article 7(3)(c)). A review of the website will not find it.
The page addresses. By 22 September 2027, or three months after the RCVS has its web form in place if that is later, each practice sends the RCVS its price list and the rest, with each page's public address (Article 10). Moving a page later means telling the RCVS "as soon as reasonably practicable" (Article 10(6)), so the brief keeps the addresses or plans the notice.
The RCVS rules, and the medicines line
Alongside the Order sits the RCVS's supporting guidance on advertising, last updated 8 October 2025. Advertising "should be accurate, truthful, and not of a character likely to bring the profession into disrepute …". A practice name with "specialist" or "advanced practitioner" needs "genuine and meaningful involvement, and oversight, in case management by at least one RCVS specialist" in every discipline offered under that name, and "Veterinary Hospital" is "considered misleading unless a practice is accredited as such (or is going through the accreditation process to achieve this)". Our build standard checks every use of those words against the guidance.
The VMD's guidance says a prescription-only veterinary medicine must not be advertised "to the general public" (regulation 11 of the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013), and the RCVS points vets and vet nurses to both, "including the publishing of medicines prices" (paragraph 23.42). Our build standard: the sales copy we write for a practice names no prescription veterinary medicine and no brand of one. That is our choice, not the VMD's rule or the CMA's.
Pet care plans: what a savings claim must carry
A plan's standard information goes on the main page about your plans (Article 9(3)). A claim that "includes a specific monetary amount, percentage or other quantified saving, or describes the magnitude of the saving" is a Quantified Savings Claim and carries the Article 9(7) calculation "in the same place as it makes such claim"; a General Savings Claim, which "refers to the existence but not the magnitude of the saving", links to that calculation (Article 9(5) and 9(6)). We set the plan page out to those Articles; the wording of a claim is yours, or a copywriting add-on.
What we build
- The website. Web Development builds the site: the price page set out for Article 7(4) and the practice-information, plan, end-of-life and complaints pages within two clicks of the homepage, which can take a site past the five a build starts with (each further page quoted before work starts). The Order wants its information "clearly visible and legible"; our standard is WCAG 2.2 AA, checked automatically as the site is built and by a manual keyboard pass before launch, with no cookie banner or pop-up over the Order's information (our reading of "not obscured by").
- Confirmations and reminders. Where bookings run through a CRM we set up: the price and price-list link in the first confirmation; a reminder before an annual plan renews, where renewals run through it (Article 9(12)); and the Order's sentence on written prescriptions in every message about an upcoming consultation by 22 September 2027 (22 June 2027 with 15 or more). A reminder of a booked appointment stays a service message; a "you are due" reminder that invites a new booking is built as marketing, for owners who agreed or fall within the soft opt-in: our build position, not a ruling (appointment reminder rules).
- The calls you miss. Missed-Call Text-Back sends one text when a call goes unanswered, with no offer in it: a service message on our reading (missed-call text rules). A voice agent for a practice is built under AI Integration, in an account of your own: it identifies itself at the start of the call and offers a real route to a person.
- Reviews. Review Management asks every client once for a Google review, nobody incentivised, nothing hidden, and drafts a reply to each Google review for your approval.
- Your Google profile. Google Business Profile management in your own Google account: you the owner, us a manager.
- Local search. SEO: UK keyword research, location pages and writing every month.
- Or as one plan. Local Business Plans: the phone, the reviews and the follow-up, run for you in a hosted account, one location per plan.
On a hosted plan the clinical record stays in your practice management system; the plan holds owners' names, numbers, messages and bookings, processed for you under a written contract on a platform whose data does not stay in the UK. Some details an owner gives can still be health data. Our hosted AI Receptionist is not offered on a practice's lines (the reason is in the questions below).
What we are not
We are a web and automation studio, not a law firm and not a veterinary compliance consultancy. We have read the Order, its Schedules and its explanatory note, and our build standard is written to respect them: a specialisation, not advice. Anything with real regulatory consequence belongs with someone qualified to give it.
Where to next
Start with a free audit: five prioritised findings on search, speed and conversion, a recorded walkthrough of your own pages and a one-page summary. It does not check the site against the Order, and the findings are yours whether or not you work with us. Starting figures are on our pricing page.