When the Willow Brook Centre opened in Bradley Stoke in October 2008 Craig and I decided to have a look to see if there were any suitable premises to open a multi-disciplinary clinic. Craig had been working at clinics in the area, but it had always been his ambition to have a clinic of his own, to serve the community by providing outstanding care and customer service. After a meeting with the then centre manager, Scott, in early 2009, we had a look at the empty unit in the East Offices. It was a huge empty office space with air conditioning units and power points dotted around the perimeter. Craig and I made no commitments at that meeting, but the conversations that followed with shop fitters, commercial solicitors, architects, bank managers and friends made it quite obvious that we were going full steam ahead to create Willow Brook Clinic.
We needed staff and were introduced to Karen. We interviewed her in our front room at home as the clinic shopfitting hadn’t begun yet. Karen took a chance on us and said, ‘Yes’ to becoming our Practice Manager. From then on Karen took the reins and set up the office side of the business, employing receptionists and getting procedures and policies in place.
Craig introduced practitioners to the clinic and took control of managing the practice side of the business.
We planned to open on the 2nd November 2009 and we did! (With a toddler and a 2 week old baby in tow!)
It was a monstrous team effort that all came together as planned. From this point forward Willow Brook Clinic evolved and grew.
In 2016 the unit next to us became available and we decided to expand. In the week between Christmas and New Year the shop fitters moved in again, painters worked through the night, furniture and equipment was delivered as planned, and on the 2nd January 2017 we opened the new clinic to the public. It was an epic achievement by all involved.
For the last 15 years we have fulfilled our promise to provide a multi-disciplinary healthcare clinic for our community, delivering outstanding care and good old fashioned customer service. We look forward to the next milestone.
And we have so many of people to thank. Firstly, our wonderful patients who continue to use our services and trust our professionalism. To our staff and the practitioners, then and now, a huge thank you for all that you do. It takes many components to turn this wheel and you have your special part in it. A big shout out to our friends for always believing in us and helping us through the tough times. To our landlord and the Willow Brook Centre team, thank you for your support. And to all the suppliers we use, thank you for always providing us with great service.
And a special thank you to our girls. Sometimes we must climb mountains to enjoy the easier ride down the other side.
Stats:
Karen has been working for us for over 15 years.
James and Olivia are our longest servicing practitioners.
We have over 11000 patients on our books.
We are one of the original tenants at Willow Brook Centre.
We are the only independent tenant at Willow Brook Centre.
We opened during a recession and have survived another two.
We got through Covid!
As always, we are happy to help you get well and stay well.
01454 625201 reception@willowbrookclinic.co.uk
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