Popular Hucknall vet retires after years of success in the town

He founded the Buckley House vets surgery on West Street in the mid-1990s and East Midlands Referrals (EMR) on Nottingham Road in 2008.

Graham has always been totally dedicated to what he takes on and did his own bricklaying for the building of Buckley House.

He has always been at the forefront of modern technology and it was a big step forward when EMR acquired an MRI scanner.

Last year, it was further boosted when it opened a £250,000 extension to the practice building.

Despite its name, EMR is not confined to the East Midlands and takes patients from all over the country.

In 1996, Graham became one of the first vets in the country to give a dog a hip replacement, this being a labrador.

On the same day at Christmas time last year, Graham operated on a dog from the isle of Bute in Scotland and one from the South Coast.

Unusual creatures Graham treated over the years have included birds of prey and he once 'put screws in a goldfish'.

Last year, EMR treated a dog that fell 160 feet off a cliff in Yorkshire.

He now plans to do a lot of travelling abroad and has an ambition to fly solo in his Spitfire aircraft which he has had lovingly and painstakingly restored.

But he also wants to keep his hand in at EMR in an advisory capacity with its two other vets, Stuart Brown and Ben Clamp.

Buckley House and EMR will both be taken over by international veterinary care providers Medivet from May 20.