President
Ian Ramsey BVSc PhD DSAM DipECVIM-CA FHEA FRCVS
Ian graduated from Liverpool University in 1990, completed a PhD at Glasgow University on feline leukaemia virus in 1993 and a residency in small animal medicine at Cambridge University in 1997. During this time he also did locum first opinion work in a wide variety of small animal practices. He then moved back to Glasgow University in 1998 where he has been ever since.
Ian first went to BSAVA Congress in 1988 and has been to all the others but one since then and still loves every minute of it.
He started his volunteer role in the East Anglia Region as Secretary in 1994 and then moved on to Publications Committee. In 2002 Ian became Chair of the PetSavers Management Committee. In 2006 he took a few years break from BSAVA volunteering (during which time he served as Secretary for the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine) before coming back in 2011, first as member of, and then as Chair of Congress Programme Committee from 2012-2015. In 2016 he moved into his current role.
Ian is currently the Professor of Small Animal Medicine at Glasgow University Veterinary School and editor of the BSAVA Small Animal Formulary. He is an RCVS and European diplomate in small animal medicine and his main interest is in endocrinology. He has written and co-authored numerous scientific papers, review articles and book chapters in various aspects of small animal medicine. In 2015 Ian received the BSAVA Woodrow Award for his contributions to small animal medicine.
Away from veterinary work his hobbies are DIY, cycling and walking (preferably, but sadly all too rarely, up mountains).
He is married to Yvonne, has two teenage children, Alastair and Heather, and two dogs, a corn snake and gerbils.
Vice President
Sheldon Middleton MA VetMB MRCVS
Sheldon graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2007. He stayed in the area as a new graduate, taking a job in a mixed practice in Bedford. He became Senior Vet there in 2011 and a Partner in 2013. He gained a GPCert(Ophthal) whilst in practice.
Sheldon’s BSAVA career started immediately after graduation when he joined the East Anglia Regional Committee. He then took on the roles of Treasurer, Secretary and Chair of the region in succession and afterwards became a Regional Representative. This led him to be a committee member of the Membership Development Committee and he subsequently became Chair. Sheldon became Honorary Treasurer of the Association in 2016.
He has edited the BSAVA Pocketbook for Vets and is involved in the production of BSAVA’s PDP resource bank.
Sheldon lives with his wife (also a small animal vet) and two children in Bedfordshire. Originally from the Yorkshire Pennines, he still enjoys hillwalking but has to travel out of Bedfordshire to do so! He also enjoys skiing, classical music and days out as a family.
Junior Vice President
Alison Speakman BVMS (Hons) PhD CertAVP MRCVS
Alison qualified from the University of Glasgow in 1991. After a year in mixed practice in Lancashire she completed a residency in feline medicine followed by a PhD on Bordetella bronchiseptica infection. Following a short period of post-doctoral research, she returned to small animal practice in Lancashire. Apart from a 2-year spell as a veterinary technical director in industry and a year in Australia, Alison has remained with her roots in the North West for most of her working life. She currently works in a small animal practice in Lancashire and has recently completed her CertAVP.
Alison first joined BSAVA as a new graduate and has been a member ever since, joining her local regional committee in 1995 followed by Education committee and Chair, Congress committee, Honorary Secretary and Petsavers committee. She currently sits on North West regional committee.
Alison has been married to Victor for 25 years and they have 2 grown up children, Rebecca and Joseph, and a cheeky Border Terrier, Roxy. In her spare time, she enjoys gardening, keeping fit, reading and travel.
Senior Vice President
Susan Paterson MA VetMB DVD DipECVD FRCVS
Dr Sue Paterson has been a dual Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and European College of Veterinary Dermatology specialist in Veterinary Dermatology for more than 20 years. She is a Fellow of the RCVS awarded for her contributions to clinical practice in the field of Veterinary Dermatology.
Sue was until two years ago a Veterinary Director of a large veterinary hospital group in the North West. Since selling the practice she has established a telemedicine advisory service and is passionate about making specialist veterinary advice accessible to both veterinary surgeons and the public. She has written seven veterinary dermatology text books, including three on ear disease, a subject on which she is considered to be a world authority. She has written more than 90 refereed publications in English, European and American journals and lectured all over the world, in more than 30 countries. She is an elected member of RCVS Council where she is Education Chair and Council lead for sustainability. She is a past President of the British Small Animal Veterinary Association and the European Society of Veterinary Dermatology and currently sits on the Board of the World Association of Veterinary Dermatology. She is a trustee of Battersea Dog’s home and a supporter of StreetVet.
Sue lives in Cumbria has two children and in her spare time enjoys nothing more than long walks across the fells with her two Labradors (and husband) Saffron and Thornton.
Honorary Secretary
Carl Gorman BVSc MRCVS
Carl graduated from Bristol in 1985. After working in Swindon, Portsmouth and Cheshire, he took on a practice in Newbury where he is now Clinical Director. He has a wide range of clinical interests including surgery, avian and exotic medicine and geriatrics. Since 2000 he has been Small Animal Editor, and now Consultant Editor of UK Vet Companion Animal. He is the author of ‘The Aged Dog’ and ‘Clients, Pets and Vets’.
Carl is on the Southern Region committee and has served as secretary. He has been a Regional Representative and sat on Scientific committee. As a member of BSAVA since 1983, he can boast membership of the association for well over half its existence. He has seen and admired the development of BSAVA over that time.
A firm believer in having a variety of interests to balance veterinary life, Carl has taken part in many challenges for charity, including climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, cycling the length of Wales off road, cycling from London to Edinburgh, a half marathon and a Tough Mudder. He has been on charity trips to Malaysia and Greece, neutering strays and continuing to advise the local charities. He is a keen tennis player and golfer. At home his family share space with three dogs, three cats and an increasing herd of tortoises (5 at the last count).
Honorary Treasurer
David Godfrey BVetMed CertSAD CertSAM DipABVP CBiol FSB FRCVS
After qualifying from the RVC in 1988, David spent a few months in mixed practice in Bangor, Co Down, six months in emergency practice in London and then an exciting year in small animal practice in St John’s, Newfoundland which enabled extensive travel around North America. He then settled for a few years in London and took RCVS Certificates in dermatology and medicine. David and his wife, Rosie, moved to Solihull and started the first feline-only veterinary practice in England. During those years, he passed the American Board of Veterinary Practitioner exams in feline practice and performed research in practice including work on feline osteoarthritis that eventually led to an RCVS Fellowship.
After our feline practice, David worked part time at home for a commercial laboratory, and ran some other veterinary businesses, before moving back into clinical work. This time he went back to small animal dermatology and BAER hearing testing. David drives between Cheltenham, Telford, Milton Keynes, and points inside this triangle, seeing dogs and cats with skin and ear problems.
David started volunteering with BSAVA’s Midlands committee as Treasurer. After a couple of years, restructuring led to East and West Midland Regions being created and he found himself chair of West Midlands and so a Director/Trustee of BSAVA. David was then a Regional Representative for a year before moving to Regions Coordinator for three years. These roles included serving on the Membership Development Committee and the Education Committee.
David and Rosie have two grown children, Ella and Oscar, who are pursuing careers in theatre and film and Rosie works as a
small animal practitioner in Coventry. The family have an old cocker spaniel and a middle-aged North American box turtle and like
sightseeing, art galleries, films, theatres, a bit of gentle walking, and David does try to do some oil painting.
Chief Executive Officer
Amanda Stranack
Amanda graduated in Human Sciences from UCL in 1993 and in seeking her next steps, a fortunate introduction led to a role in small but growing business delivering corporate events. This started her career in the world of corporate events where she moved through project management and account director positions and finally to senior management positions working with the boards to develop commercial and business strategies.
For some time she had looked for a position to move to the client side of events, seeking for the chance to shape and build events strategically from within an organisation and the Head of Congress position at BSAVA fitted the bill. BSAVA Congress is the UK’s largest annual association event and something to be proud of, within the veterinary profession but also the world of professional associations and events as a whole. After 4 years in this role Amanda moved to the Director of Operations position and became Chief Executive in 2019.
Stephen Spill MA (Oxon), FCA- Non-executive director
Steve is BSAVA’s first non-executive director, and a non-veterinarian.
Steve graduated in History from Christ Church, Oxford and went on to qualify as a Chartered Accountant. He has enjoyed a long executive career, initially as an auditor and later a business adviser and manager. The final segment of his executive career was as Chief Operating Officer of the Central & Eastern European operations of a major global professional services group, where he oversaw its operations in more than 30 offices across 19 countries.
As well as London, Surrey and South Wales, Steve has lived and worked in Rome, Budapest, Prague and Warsaw.
Steve now holds a portfolio of non-executive positions which, as well as BSAVA, include social housing, an NHS trust, international employee benefits and a mental health charity. His specialisms are finance, risk management and business growth strategy.
He lives in the Vale of Glamorgan in converted farm buildings, surrounded by (mainly large) animals, his involvement in small animals limited to the family cat, watching the neighbour’s sheepdogs at work, and providing protection for a hedgehog family. He enjoys cycling and walking in the rural Vale and travelling.