Howells Veterinary Services - Veterinary Surgeons

Mark Howells

MA, Vet MB, DBR (Dist.), MRCVS, Director

Mark qualified from Cambridge University in 1986 and has worked in rural mixed practice ever since. He holds a Diploma in Bovine Reproduction from Liverpool University. Mark leads the pig team and has been instrumental in developing our major agricultural supplies outlet. He is very proud of the whole team at the practice and the positive feedback which we regularly receive from our clients.

Christine Howells

MA, Vet MB, PG Cert (SAM), MRCVS, Director

Christine qualified from Cambridge University in 1987 and spent six years in mixed practice before settling into a purely small animal role. She leads the small animal practice at Howells Vets and is an RCVS Advanced Practitioner in Small Animal Medicine.

William Hersey

B Vet Med (Hons), MRCVS, Director

William graduated in 2013, spending one year in a primarily small animal practice before moving North. He leads the poultry team and is working towards his poultry certificate with World Veterinary Education in Production Animal Health. Predominantly working with poultry and pigs William is actively involved in all aspects of the practice and has a particular interest in acupuncture.

Luke Ramsden

BVM&S MANZCVS (Dairy Medicine) MRCVS Director

Luke, originally from York, qualified from Edinburgh University in 2010 after which he spent 5 years working in mixed practice in Victoria, Australia. After 2 years locuming around the UK, he has returned to his North Yorkshire roots. Luke is a mixed practice vet but particularly loves all things cattle and achieved his memberships in Dairy Medicine by examination in 2015 from the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists. Luke enjoys helping farmers prevent and solve herd health issues on farm, with particular interests in mastitis, bull fertility and bovine surgery. Outside the ‘office’ he enjoys all things sport especially football, rugby and AFL. He also can be found snowboarding, mountain biking, walking or trying to catch a fish.

Katie Northern

BVet Med Sci, BVMBVS, MRCVS, PG Cert VBM, Director

Katie is one of our small animal only vets, who joined us in October 2021. She qualified from Nottingham University in 2011 and started veterinary life as a mixed vet before deciding to hone her skills as a small animal surgeon through a mix of permanent and locuming jobs across the country as well as spending a year as a hospital clinician in a specialist referral practice. Her interests include internal medicine, cardiology and soft tissue surgery. Katie has a particular interest in veterinary dentistry and holds a further qualification in this field.

Leanne Forde-Archer

BVSc, MRCVS, Director

Leanne graduated from the University of Liverpool in July 2012 and has been practising in her home county of North Yorkshire ever since. Her main interests lie in production animal medicine and health planning. She has a growing interest in ruminant nutrition and is studying for a further qualification in this subject through the University of Glasgow. In 2021, Leanne trained as a veterinary investigation officer at APHA Thirsk conducting farm animal postmortem examinations and veterinary surveillance. Leanne is on the executive committee of the Sheep Veterinary Society. However, nothing brings Leanne more joy than a successful calving or lambing; she is at her happiest getting stuck in on farm.

Ellie Button

MA, VetMB, MRCVS, CertAVP (Cattle)

Ellie Button has been practising since 2006 and gained her Certificate of Advanced Veterinary Practice in 2019. She specialises in cattle infectious diseases, calf rearing, cattle lameness and teaching. She enjoys working with people and having a practical “hands on” job, and loves working outdoors. Her favourite parts of the job include working alongside farmers to maximise the health and productivity of their herd, the satisfaction of a successful lambing or calving and driving around the beautiful Yorkshire countryside.

Sian Curtis

B Vet Med, MRCVS

Sian graduated from Liverpool University in 2012 and has worked in mixed veterinary practices ever since. She has a particular interest in beef cattle but enjoys working with all farm species. She particularly enjoys assisting births, on-farm surgeries and fertility work. Sian always wanted to be a vet, and her favourite thing is getting out and about and meeting and working with our farmers to come up with practical solutions to problems. When not at work, Sian likes keeping fit, cooking and travelling.

Roman Idzinski

MRCVS – Poultry Vet

Roman joined our pig and poultry team in January 2012. He qualified in 1994 from Olsztyn University in Poland and moved to England with his family in 2004. Roman is an excellent pathologist, and working with the rest of our pig and poultry teams, heprovides specialised services to these sectors.

Amy Bowers

BVSc, DBR, MRCVS

Amy graduated in 2018 from Liverpool University and after working in Lancashire for 3 years at a dairy practice she has decided to move a little closer to home. She is passionate about dairy fertility and calf rearing in particular. In 2024 she completed a post graduate Diploma in Bovine Reproduction through the University of Liverpool. Over the last two years Amy has gained a deep understanding of cattle reproduction which has allowed her to provide bespoke in-depth advice to our farmers. In her free time you will find Amy baking, crafting or exploring the outdoors.

Sophie Walker-Munro

BVM, BVS, MRCVS

Sophie graduated from Nottingham in 2022 and joined the team at Howells in the summer of 2023. Originally from a farming background in Scotland she is enjoying working in Yorkshire. Sophie has a particular interest in farm animal medicine but enjoys all aspects of mixed practice. Outside work she is a keen skier and hockey player and enjoys catching up with friends.

Rachael Pond

BVSc, MRCVS

Rachael was raised in Yorkshire and returned to her roots after graduating from Liverpool University in 2022. She loves all aspects of mixed practice and is excited to get stuck in with whatever comes her way. In her spare time, she can be found riding her horses or in a pair of wellies taking the dogs out to enjoy the countryside.

Alasdair Ross

BVM, BVS, MRCVS

Alasdair graduated from Nottingham in 2022. He moved from Downpatrick, Northern Ireland to Yorkshire in Autumn 2022 after spending a couple months travelling in South-East Asia and New Zealand. He enjoys the varied aspect of mixed practice but with a particular interest in the parts that get him outdoors exploring Yorkshire. He enjoys skiing, rugby and walking his labrador, Maggie.

Elizabeth Relph

BVS, MRCVS.

Lizzie, originally from Cumbria, graduated from Liverpool University in 2021. She started out her career in the western Lake District working in mixed practice before making the move to North Yorkshire. She enjoys every aspect of mixed practice especially small animal medicine and large animal surgery and really gets a buzz out of the busy pace of springtime! Outside work, she can usually be found up a fell, baking for the team or running with her Labrador Rhu.

Sam Ford

MA VetMB MRCVS

Sam qualified from Cambridge University in 2007. She is Leicestershire born and bred but after working 10 years in a busy small animal hospital she decided to leave the city behind for life in the countryside. Since moving to North Yorkshire she has worked as a permanent and locum small animal vet for several local practices before joining Howells in September 2023. She enjoys all aspects of small animal medicine and soft tissue surgery and the variety of being a general practitioner. In her spare time she enjoys baking and exploring the countryside with her family.

Louise Conway

DrMedVet, MRCVS (Veterinary Surgeon)

Louise, originally from south coast of Ireland, graduated from the University of Budapest in February 2022. She started as a new graduate in North Wales before moving to Howells in October 2023. Louise enjoys all aspects of mixed practice especially the challenges and variety that comes with a busy springtime. In her spare time, you will find Louise either exploring the running trails of North Yorkshire or simply curled up on the couch with her cat Nacho.

Lydia Cotton

BVMSci MRCVS (Veterinary Surgeon)

Lydia graduated from Surrey in 2023. After being down south for 5 years, Lydia was keen to return to her Yorkshire roots. Although she has a particular interest in farm animal medicine, the diversity and excitement of mixed practice is Lydia's favourite part of the job. In her free time she loves being outdoors either running or walking dogs.

Charlotte Smith

MRCVS MSC Global Wildlife and Conservation

Charlotte, who is originally from South Wales, graduated from Liverpool University and joined us in February 2024. During her time at university, Charlotte also took a year's break from her veterinary degree to complete an intercalated masters degree in Wildlife Health and Conservation, during which she got the chance to work with a diverse range of species such as grey seals down in Cornwall. She is one of our mixed practice vets, so you'll find her helping both farm animals and the small patients in the clinic. She loves that every day is different and getting to see a wide range of animals. One of favourite times of the year is lambing due its fast pace and seeing the newborn lambs spring into action. In her spare time Charlotte enjoys playing rugby and football and anything that means she gets to spend time outside..

Becky McKelvey

BVMedSci, BVM, BVS, MRCVS

Becky is originally from Northern Ireland and graduated from Nottingham University in 2022. She joined Howells Veterinary Services the same year. Becky gained experience at pig farms throughout her time at university and this is what inspired her to focus her veterinary career on pigs. She enjoys all aspects of animal production and has completed a swine university course, gaining experience in pig production in the Far East. In her spare time, she enjoys trial running, tennis and spending time with her sheep.

Sam Clark

BVM, BVS, BVMedSci, MRCVS

Sam joined the practice in August 2024 after graduating from Nottingham University. Sam was keen to return to his home county of Yorkshire. He enjoys all aspects of mixed practice and looks forward to seeing clients' pets in consults or getting stuck in on farm. Sam enjoys the variety that being a mixed vet brings. Outside the practice he enjoys rugby league and skiing and in his spare time, you'll find him walking his lurcher Moose across the moors.

Ellie Lynch