The people you will get to know

Since January 2019 Jo has been the principal of Downwood Veterinary Practice Ltd, keeping it the friendly, independent practice that Robin spent many years creating, providing high-quality medical and surgical services for your pet.

Jo qualified from Edinburgh University in 2006 and after four years in mixed practices she became a small animal locum working locally. She enjoys all aspects of small animal practice, has a keen interest in small animal surgery, and is a qualified acupuncturist.

Jo is married and lives with Ian, an equine vet. They have two children and two cats, Acorn and Olive, and she is always on the look out for a rescue she can help. Outside work Jo enjoys spending time with her family and the occasional round of golf.

Tom graduated with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science from Massey University, New Zealand in 2010. He spent his first year in practice as an intern at a specialist clinic in Auckland, before returning to the UK where he grew up.

Since then he has been working in small animal practices across the South East and has neutered over 600 cats for charity projects in Greece. He joined the Downwood team in October 2021.

At home, Tom is married to a wildlife vet. They have two young boys and share their home with two very excitable cats, Orca and Nia. In his spare time he enjoys outings with his family, cycling along the South Downs and the occasional game of tennis.

Elly graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2012 and worked for a veterinary charity for ten years, in Leicester and more recently in Brighton, before relocating to East Sussex to be closer to family. Elly joined Downwood in February 2023, working three days a week.

Elly has two young girls, Emily and Olivia, who keep her and her husband busy. Outside of work they enjoy trips out as a family, messing around on the water around the Isle of Wight, bike rides and trips away in their caravan.

Jess graduated in 2024 from the Royal Veterinary College. This is Jess' first job as a vet since graduating. She saw practice with us as a student and loved the team here at Downwood so much she decided to stay.

She is really enjoying getting to know all our clients and their pets. In her spare time she enjoys gardening, going on walks with her two dogs Boris and Dora, and spending time with family and friends.

Charlotte qualified as a Veterinary Surgeon in 2021 and has worked in both first opinion practice and emergency veterinary medicine. She enjoys all aspects of small animal practice, with a particular interest in internal medicine, and loves getting to know both pets and their owners.

Outside of work, you will usually find Charlotte horse riding, walking her dogs and exploring the countryside.

Maria has been working within the veterinary profession for the past 30 years, previously nursing and then in administration and management. She joined us as Practice Manager in 2007.

Maria is also an advanced Pet Health Counsellor, she runs our weight clinics and is a mental health first aider. In 2019 Maria also completed a course on bereavement support (see our By Your Side service).

In her spare time she enjoys looking after her two cats, guinea pigs and rescue dog Ollie. Maria is married; she met her husband Phil, who worked for a local animal rescue centre, at Downwood.

Natalie qualified as a Veterinary Nurse in 1998 and became Head Nurse at the practice where she completed her training. She changed careers in 2002 and became a veterinary sales representative for a large pharmaceutical company, but soon missed nursing and returned.

Natalie really enjoys general nursing, with a special interest in theatre and inpatient care. She joined Downwood as Head Nurse in 2004 and is also our insurance claims administrator, fixer of all things, and our IT specialist. She lives locally with her husband, two sons and their young puppy Ronnie.

She enjoys baking, walking, socialising, cinema, dining out, and foreign travel, especially cruises.

Rebecca qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2004. Since then she has worked at a variety of local practices as head nurse, senior nurse and clinical coach. She has also spent time teaching veterinary nursing at the local agricultural college.

You may remember that Rebecca previously worked at Downwood for 12 years and she has just rejoined the team as RVN and clinical coach. She enjoys all aspects of nursing but especially mentoring the student nurses and nursing clinics.

She lives with her husband, two children, a dog, two cats, two rabbits and plenty of fish.

Annette joined Downwood in March 2021 after an eight year break from veterinary nursing. Annette qualified in 2005 as a Veterinary Nurse and, after a few years in practice, went on to teach Veterinary Nursing at Plumpton College.

Annette is also a qualified equine and human sports massage therapist which she does in her spare time. She lives locally with her husband, two girls, a black lab called Sparky and their two cats Poppy and Dude.

When she has any spare time, she enjoys keeping fit, walking, socialising with friends and eating out.

Chloe also joined us in March 2021. Chloe has been nursing for the past seven years and qualified in 2020. She has a passion for inpatient care and general nursing, loves working as part of a team, and also enjoys nurse clinics.

Chloe lives locally with her husband, three young children and her pet gecko Cooper. In her spare time Chloe enjoys family walks, socialising with friends and attending the odd dance class.

Nicola is originally from Nottingham and qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2011. She moved to London in 2013 and during this time worked in a wide variety of practices including first opinion, referral and charity.

Continuing her journey down south, she moved to East Sussex in 2021 and worked in both a locum and permanent capacity before arriving at Downwood in 2024. She lives with her husband and their Cocker Spaniel Judy and two cats Stanley and Sid. Outside of work she enjoys gardening and exploring the beautiful East Sussex countryside and coastline with the dog.

Michelle qualified as an RVN in 2001 and worked for many years at a busy small animal referral and emergency hospital seeing a variety of critical cases. She achieved a higher education diploma in veterinary nursing in 2011 and a BSc hons in clinical veterinary nursing in 2014, and has developed a keen interest in senior pet care.

Michelle went on to become a lecturer at Plumpton College before returning to clinical practice at Downwood in March 2023, and is loving being back to hands-on nursing. Home life is busy with a young daughter, her cat Pippin and tortoise Joey. In her spare time she enjoys getting outdoors with friends and family, Pilates and classic cars.

Elsie qualified from the Royal Veterinary College in 2018 and has been nursing in first opinion practices ever since. She gained her Clinical Coach qualification and enjoys helping student nurses with their training and seeing them gain confidence.

Outside of work she spends most of her time walking her crazy whippet Squid by the seaside. She also enjoys spending time with her husband, family and friends. She has a soft spot for sight hounds and enjoys most aspects of nursing.

Farrah started with us in 2018 as an animal nursing assistant. She continued through her studies and qualified in 2024 as a veterinary nurse. After qualifying, Farrah decided to take some time out, build Roxy her overland truck and went off travelling with her partner and their two dogs.

She soon realised she missed nursing (and obviously us) and re-joined us at Downwood in November 2025. In her spare time, when she's not busy with the truck, she enjoys being outside with her dog Merlin and her horses, and loves farm life.

Rumer joined the Downwood team in June 2022 as a Kennel Assistant and completed her veterinary nursing training with us. She qualified as a Registered Veterinary Nurse in February 2026.

Having grown up surrounded by both small and farm animals, Rumer has always had a passion for animal care and always knew she wanted to work with animals. Before joining Downwood she had helped with many lambing seasons and spent time volunteering at a wildlife rescue centre.

Outside of work, Rumer enjoys being in the countryside spending time with family and friends, walking her patterdale terrier Poppy, and riding her horse Conker.

Tina joined our reception team in 2000 and since then she attended college to gain her ANA (Animal Nursing Assistant) qualification in 2005, with a distinction. Out of work she enjoys socialising with friends and spending time with her family, including her young granddaughter.

Jan has worked as a receptionist at the Downwood Veterinary Centre since February 2006. She has many years of experience dealing with the public in various working environments.

In her spare time she enjoys walking her rescue Lhasa Apso, Pebble, socialising with friends, eating out and foreign travel. At weekends she is an avid clay pigeon shooter with a local club and has won a couple of C class competitions. She has recently become a grandmother and is enjoying spending time with her new grandson.

Sam has worked as a veterinary receptionist since 2007 in local practices. She joined the Downwood team in July 2023 and works at our Ringmer branch. She loves working within the animal industry and has a passion for dogs. When she is not at work, she enjoys dog grooming at home and going to dog shows and events.

Sam also loves spending time with her family and holidays with her friends. Sam has two dogs, a toy poodle called Lulu and a lurcher called Autumn, and a tabby cat called Chester.

Lisa joined our reception team in 2022 and went on to qualify as a fully-fledged Animal Nursing Assistant through Plumpton College. She has several years of experience in customer-facing roles and holds a degree in animal management.

Lisa lives locally with her husband and two young kids. Lisa is a Shodan (a black belt) in Karate and won gold in the world championships in her category in 2015. She enjoys crafting and loves crocheting cute outfits for the family. She also has a love of learning and has just completed a Swedish massage course.

Ruby joined our reception team in June 2026. She has a Level 3 qualification in Animal Management and previous experience volunteering at multiple animal welfare centres.

At home she has two Romanian rescue dogs, a cocker spaniel called Daisy, and two cats, so animals have always been a big part of her life. In her spare time she enjoys travelling, keeping active, and spending time with family and friends.

Heather joined our reception team in October 2024 after moving back to the UK after 16 years in New Zealand. She brings a huge amount of experience with her, having worked in numerous veterinary practices as a qualified veterinary nurse before moving abroad.

She has a border collie and a very soppy flat coat retriever cross at home and loves going out for long walks with them. In her spare time she loves to bake, enjoys helping her husband on the farm, and her favourite thing is cooking a huge Sunday roast for her whole family.