Leeds-based Eville & Jones has promoted a trio of senior public health veterinarians to national technical leads within the specialist areas of Animal Welfare & Food Safety, Export Certification and Portal Inspection.

Eville & Jones, the largest private provider of veterinary public health Official Controls in Europe, has appointed Ester Benguerel to food safety and animal welfare technical lead, Georgios Kakarantzas to exports technical lead and Patricia Gonzalez to imports technical lead.

The trio have a combined experience of more than 60 years with Eville & Jones and will now move up into newly created roles that will see them each oversee a team of technical managers to deliver the highest technical standards of service delivery through an 800 strong team of public health veterinary professionals.

In addition, they will reinforce Eville & Jones’ position as leaders within veterinary public health by positioning themselves as influential and authoritative voices within the food sector. By representing the combined interests of customers and veterinary professionals, they will advocate changes in legislation and regulatory guidance with the objective of maintaining UK veterinary public health as effective, efficient, and relevant to all stakeholders.

Ester joined Eville & Jones in 2000 and is an experienced official veterinarian (OV), she moves into her new position after previously being an Area Manager for the North of England, managing a large team of OVs and meat hygiene inspectors (MHI) within abattoirs. Georgios has been with Eville & Jones since 2003 starting as an OV before moving to specialise in exports and becoming an Area Manager. Patricia joined Eville & Jones in 2001 and has worked as a portal OV for more than 20 years.

Eville & Jones is currently experiencing a period of growth despite difficult times for the industry, capitalising on new opportunities to support UK PLC in a post Brexit regulatory landscape.

Charles Hartwell, CEO said: “As a business, we are currently on an ambitious growth path, so it is fantastic that we are able to appoint three of our most experienced veterinary surgeons as National Technical Leads. Investing in our people is a priority, and this is a perfect example. Ester, Georgios and Patricia have outstanding technical and people skills, with the ability to add value through integrating complex technical legislation and guidance with the operational demands of our customers.”