Martin Atkinson qualified from Liverpool University in 1975 and spent the first five years of his career in mixed practice in various parts of the country. After a spell as an assistant in small animal practice in Middlesex he bought the branch surgery from the previous owner and set up sole-charge in 1981. After five years the building was extensively modified with a large purpose-built extension into a state of the art clinic and re-named St Martin’s Veterinary Clinic after the local parish.