KETTERING TEAM

Karl has been practice manager for the Northlands group since 2015, a role that offers him a variety of challenges every day. He assists all of our practices from a non-clinical standpoint, from guiding and developing colleagues to projecting and delegating future plans. Outside of work, he enjoys walks in the Peak District, and is a Liverpool and Northampton Saints supporter.

Since qualifying in 2004, Hans has worked in several clinics in the Northamptonshire area, developing a variety of clinical and surgical skills, allowing him to support and lead the hospital team in their work. He has an interest in soft tissue surgery and developing clinical standards to allow for the best care possible for our patients. Out of work, he enjoys conjuring feasts from the kitchen and is an avid reader, while his cat rules the house.

Darren joined Northlands in 2012 and works at our hospital in Kettering, after studying at Sheffield and Nottingham. He has particular interests in emergency medicine and soft tissue surgery. Outside work, Darren has been involved in the Scouts since 1990, and occasionally dabbles in taekwondo.

Gunila is a small animal veterinary surgeon with 18 years of experience. She graduated at the Royal Vet School of Copenhagen, then decided to move to Spain and ran her own practice there for 8 years. She has worked in England since 2012, covering emergency shifts all over the country, and spent 1.5 years at a referral hospital taking care of the critical patients. Gunila loves food and is fully plant based. Other passions are traveling, martial arts, and meeting as many animals as possible!

Laura has been a veterinary surgeon since 2004 when she qualified in Barcelona. After qualifying, Laura did a PhD in Cardiology and 2 master’s degrees, one in animal nutrition and another in animal behaviour.

Along with cardiology, Laura’s main interests are feline medicine, emergency medicine and critical care, pain management and acupuncture. In her downtime Laura loves to travel abroad, especially to Barcelona to visit her family and friends. 

She also likes photography, reading, running, hiking, baking, and going to the theatre. She owns 4 cats, a stray cat called Moxa who is 3 years old. Albus Percival Dumbledore and Ginny Weasley, 2 beautiful Maine Coons of 6 and 4 months old, and the funniest 6-month-old Sphynx called Dobby. 

Born in Romania and raised in Spain, Iulia graduated from Veterinary Medicine in July 2021. During her University years, she had the chance to gain experience by doing internships, and she’s always looking for both personal and professional development. Her areas of interest are internal medicine and soft tissue surgery. Besides her love for animals and medicine, she’s passionate about music (any musical genre, really), cooking and travelling. Back home she has 2 furry buddies, Runy and Ruby, which she loves spending time with.

Greg is a newly graduated veterinary surgeon who has recently joined Northlands.  Greg took an interest in many aspects of Veterinary Medicine while at the Royal Veterinary College but has an interest in Cardiology and Neurology. He is excited to see where his interests will take him as he continues in his professional development. Originally from California, Greg grew up hiking, backpacking, camping, and really doing anything outdoors. While he may miss the weather, Greg has thoroughly enjoyed his time in the UK. In between studies, Greg filled his time by traveling, cooking, and even doing archery competitively.

Liam graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2023. During his studies Liam enjoyed all aspects of small animal veterinary work but had a particular interest in internal medicine and cardiology and is hoping to develop his skills and knowledge in these areas during his time at Northlands. Outside of work Liam enjoys running in the countryside, walking his Labrador and tending to his flock of chickens. 

Sarah is head nurse at our hospital in Kettering. She is working towards transitioning to a management position, to help pursue her passion for providing the best possible environment for pets and staff. When not at work, she is either in the gym, relaxing on the sofa with a movie or out with her camera!

Nicola is deputy head nurse at our hospital, looking after the day to day running of the surgical and ward areas with her colleagues. She is interested in emergency and critical care and further educating colleagues in various fields of veterinary medicine. Outside of work she likes to read, bake cakes and walk her dachshund Hector. 

Allison is a registered veterinary nurse who has been with Northlands for over 30 years. She plays a role in stock control, and also enjoys getting involved in surgical procedures and running tests in the laboratory. As well as this she is a clinical coach helping to train new nurse. Outside of work she enjoys reading, cross stitch, theatre – especially musicals – and puzzles.

Michelle is a registered veterinary nurse and gained a degree in veterinary nursing from Nottingham Trent University in 2014. Michelle began working at Northlands Veterinary Group in November 2021. Outside of work Michelle is a volunteer cat fosterer for Cats Protection and really enjoys caring for the variety of cats and kittens that come in her care whilst they wait for a new home to be found. Michelle also enjoys spending time with her lovely rescue cat Lottie and keeping active through walking, going to the gym and lane swimming.

Janine qualified as a nurse in 2001. She loves spending time with her family and walking their rescued greyhound Hooper. She enjoys socialising and is partial to a glass of wine.

Samantha has been a qualified Vet Nurse for the past seven years. She has a particular interest in emergency and wound care. In her free time, she looks after her rescue animals, one cat and three dogs. She also loves crafting and gaming.

Ellie is an apprentice veterinary care assistant at Northlands, and is training to reach her goal of qualifying as a registered veterinary nurse. She started with the group in July 2018 on work experience, and has since filled a number of roles before starting her nurse training. She has a cat named Merlot and a dog named Bramble, and is a lover of travel, with many destinations lined up for future visits.

After completing her animal management diploma, Lara is studying to become a vet nurse. She is working between the Kettering practice and the Cat and Rabbit Clinic. With plenty of animals at home ranging from guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters, dogs, cats and even chickens, Lara is very confident with a variety of species. Outside of work she enjoys reading and going on long walks

Megan joined the Northlands Group in April 2021 to start her career working with animals. She has previously studied at Moulton gaining a triple distinction * in Level 3 Extended Diploma in Animal Management. She likes playing and watching football and supports Sheffield Wednesday. She likes playing on her Xbox. She has 1 dog, 3 cats, 1 corn snake and 2 Guinea pigs.  

Lauren has always had a strong passion and love for animals from a young age. She has completed an animals welfare course to level 3 at Moulton college. Lauren has a jack Russel called honey and a horse named Mouse Murphy who she loves being with in her spare time. She also has another passion which is a football club called Leicester city and is a season ticket holder. Her ambition is to become a veterinary nurse.

Laura studied at Moulton College for 2 years doing level 3 Animal Welfare and volunteered at animals In Need in that time. She then worked as an Animal Welfare assistant for 4 and half years at Animals In Need helping mainly in the kennel section. She has 2 dogs and 2 cats which she has rescued either as strays or from a rescue centre. In her spare time she loves going on long walks with her dogs and volunteering at an Animal shelter. She hopes to become a vet nurse in the future and help as many animals as possible

Izzy is a animal care assistant at Northlands and will be looking after and caring for all the animals that come through our doors. With a variety of animals at home including a dog, a rabbit, a hamster and 3 guinea pigs, caring for animals comes naturally. Outside of work she likes going for days out with her Cavachon Bodhi and visiting new places with her boyfriend.

Lisa has been passionate about all things business from the start of her career. Within Northlands she is mainly responsible for collating information for the monthly accounts reports and payroll processing. Outside of the office she is kept busy by her family – a husband, a small child and two teenagers can be very demanding! She enjoys learning and can often be found listening to podcasts while out walking her long-haired dachshund Matilda.

Julie has worked in management for over 20 years and joined Northlands in 2011 where she spends her time looking after her colleagues. She is interested in how people work and how they can be helped to achieve their goals. In her downtime she likes to read, going to the theatre and cinema, dancing and cooking.

Katy is senior administrator at our hospital, looking after the team of receptionists and telephonists. She has lived in several different countries including Singapore and Dubai and loves travelling – and food, especially Chinese. She has a little ginger Cavalier called Douglas who enjoys either walking or sleeping, with nothing in between. A cat called Henry which was acquired through the practice having been brought in as a stray. Family police connections have left her loving a whodunnit, so she gets her fix through books and TV!

Karen has been an admin assistant with us since 2005, and loves chatting with clients and making a fuss of their pets. She enjoys cross-stitching and is involved in the leadership team of her local Baptist church. She has two westies, Chloe and Lily, as well as three cats, including Magic, who doesn’t let only having three legs stop her from bringing home lots of gifts from the garden!

Kate has worked on reception for the Northlands Group since 2008, and prides herself on knowing our clients and their pets really well – leading to her being nominated for the Veterinary Receptionist of the Year through the British Veterinary Receptionist Association in February 2019. With her son and partner she has three cats, Brandy, Cinders and Chester, and new addition Merlin the Labrador. She enjoys cooking, music and going on walks.

Emma had the pleasure of joining the Northlands team in 2021 after working in a customer facing role for over 30 years, with the last 10 as part of a veterinary team. Having always had a home filled with animals, assisting pets and their human families is a dream role for her. Emma has a soft spot for the seniors especially the senior rescues. Being mum to 4 terriers and terrier crosses, 2 of which are now in their senior years and a very elderly beardy (her sons!). Her dogs keep her on her toes, but she also enjoys supporting her daughters equestrian adventures, gardening, reading and watching a good crime drama and much to her families annoyance researching anything and everything! Besides her human and animal family her heart lies in Cornwall, where alongside her husband she hopes to retire there eventually.

Hilary joined the Northlands Veterinary Group in November 2021 and works within the admin team on Reception at the main hospital.  She has many years’ experience of Reception work and is looking forward to working at this practice.  She has recently moved to the Kettering area with her partner and 2 terriers, Lola and Oscar and is enjoying exploring the local dog walking opportunities (and pubs!).

Shivhaun started working for the Northlands Group at our Kettering hospital in 2020, she has worked in administration for over 20 years and enjoys interacting with the clients and their pets.  When she's not working, she is busy ferrying her 3 daughters to drama classes and football practice and spends many a weekend supporting them from the side line, she enjoys gardening and walking in the countryside with the family and their springer spaniel Buster. 

For the past 5 years Gareth have been a stay-at-home dad, before that he worked on a milking farm with a herd of 100 cows, he also worked with working dogs. He has 2 dogs at home Lula (Staffordshire bull terrier) who is 11 and Marshall (German shepherd) who is 6. In his spare time he loves to read, draw and spend as much time with his wife and children (3 boys, 2 girls), playing and training with the dogs or just tending to our 200ft garden with a section being prepared to grow vegetables and a shed being built out of pallets. Very keen rugby fan with his favourite team being Northampton saints.

Karen has worked as a receptionist and administrator for over 20 years and joined Northlands in 2023. Karen enjoys supporting and providing a service to Northlands clients, and their pets, as she builds individual relationships with each.  Karen was born in Kettering, but travelled with her husband, abroad and across the UK whilst he was serving in the British Army, returning to Kettering in 2005.  She loves Weimaraner dogs, with her latest rescue dog called King Hale, who at times believes he is the King of the house!!