CVS Vets' UK Estate Rebrand

The Brief

CVS Vets undertook a major rebrand across its estate, requiring signage at more than 380 veterinary practices to be updated to reflect the new CVS Vets brand.

With sites spread across the UK, including Northern Ireland and the Isle of Wight, the project involved a wide variety of locations, from smaller high street practices to large standalone sites such as the Falmouth branch pictured below.

The challenge was not simply to apply the same signage package to every location. Each site needed to reflect the new brand while working with its existing building, signage, surroundings and any site-specific restrictions.

With installations delivered in waves to agreed target dates, the project also required careful coordination between surveying, design, production and installation to maintain momentum across the estate.

The Solution

Our surveyors began by gathering detailed information at each site, capturing measurements, photographs and the practical considerations needed to produce accurate signage.

Using the CVS Vets brand guidelines, our Drawing Office then designed each location individually. While some elements, such as the internal reception signage, were standardised, external signage was adapted to suit the individual site. This resulted in a variety of signage solutions across the estate, including flex face signs, printed ACM panels and traditional-style hand-painted signwriting. 

Where required, we also adapted designs around existing structures and site-specific restrictions rather than forcing a standard solution onto every branch. To keep production moving efficiently, we identified elements that could be manufactured in advance. Reception signs, for example, were produced in batches and kept in stock, with around 20–40 held at any one time. The branch-specific names could then be applied in vinyl as required.

Other signage was manufactured as drawings were approved, meaning our production teams needed to remain flexible and responsive throughout the rollout. Working in waves allowed us to balance advance production with the changing requirements of individual sites.

Installation took place over nine months, with an average of three to four fixing crews working across the estate at any one time. Our teams also had to work around the realities of operating veterinary practices, including branch opening hours and the need to minimise disruption to staff and animals. In some cases, internal works involving drilling had to be carried out outside normal opening hours.

The detailed site surveys proved particularly valuable during installation, allowing signage to be manufactured accurately to each location and keeping revisits and snagging to a minimum. And, occasionally, the installation environment was a little less conventional, including one freestanding sign installed in a field occupied by cows.

The Result

With more than 380 sites delivered as part of the rollout, the project has brought CVS Vets’ new branding to practices across a huge and varied estate.

The scale of the project required significant coordination across our in-house teams, with surveyors, artworkers, production departments, Project Management and installation crews all working together to deliver each wave to its target dates.

The result is a consistent CVS Vets identity across the estate, while retaining the flexibility to accommodate the individual characteristics of each practice.

We’re proud to have been trusted as CVS Vets Group’s primary signage contractor on a project of this scale, and to have supported the brand through the practical challenge of translating its new identity across more than 380 individual locations.