Operating Platforms: vetecom.co.uk and vetecom.auctionmarts.com

Proprietary Frameworks: Trade-In Solutions™ (TIS)

Company Registration Number: 17376487 

Effective Date: August 2026 

1.1 The Company: Vitecom Ltd (trading as "Vetecom"), registered in England and Wales under Company Registration Number 17376487, with its registered office at Worsley House, Windle Street, St. Helens, England, WA10 2BL ("Vetecom", "we", "us", or "our"), operates a dedicated, verified business-to-business (B2B) veterinary equipment ecosystem comprising: 

• The Clinical Asset Exchange & Brokerage Desk: Hosted at vetecom.co.uk for direct practice-to-practice transactions, structured asset redeployment, and private treaty sales. 
• The Timed Clinical Auction Engine: Hosted at vetecom.auctionmarts.com for scheduled, timed commercial equipment auctions. 
• Trade-In Solutions™ (TIS / TISa): Our proprietary, trademarked framework governing practice asset appraisals, residual value underwriting, OEM trade-in reallocations, and structured clinical decommissionings across the UK veterinary sector.

1.2 Binding Agreement: These Terms of Business, together with our Privacy Policy, govern all access to, registration with, and transactions executed across both platforms and associated operational desks. By registering an account, listing clinical assets, submitting equipment under the Trade-In Solutions™ framework, or placing a bid in a timed auction, you enter into a legally binding contract with Vitecom Ltd and warrant that you act exclusively on behalf of a verified veterinary practice, corporate veterinary group, or approved veterinary Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). 

2.1 B2B Exclusivity: Platform access is strictly restricted to commercial and clinical entities:

• Registered UK Veterinary Practices and Surgeries;
• Corporate Veterinary Groups;
• Authorised Veterinary Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and certified medical distributors. 

2.2 Exclusion of Consumer Protection Legislation: As all transactions across vetecom.co.uk and vetecom.auctionmarts.com are strictly business-to-business commercial contracts: 

• The Consumer Rights Act 2015 does not apply.
• The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 do not apply.
• There is no statutory right to a cooling-off period, discretionary return, or consumer refund.

2.3 Verification Protocol: Access to bidding, purchasing, and trade-in valuations requires formal vetting. Registering entities must provide a valid Practice Name, Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) registration reference or Companies House registration number, VAT number (where applicable), and verified commercial clinical premises. Vetecom reserves the unilateral right to deny platform entry, restrict bidding limits, or terminate accounts failing verification. 

3.1 Electronic Hammer & Binding Bids: All timed auctions operate with set opening and closing windows. Placing a bid constitutes a legally binding commitment to purchase the lot at that price plus applicable buyer premiums and VAT. If your bid is the highest accepted bid at the close of the timed auction (meeting or exceeding any reserve price), a binding contract of sale is established upon the fall of the electronic hammer. 

3.2 Auto-Extension (Anti-Sniping): If a competitive bid is submitted within the final minutes of a scheduled lot closing time, the platform automatically extends the bidding window to ensure fair, transparent execution across all participating practices.

3.3 Reserve Prices: Lots may be subject to a confidential reserve price agreed between Vetecom and the releasing vendor. If the reserve is not met, the lot will not be sold unless negotiated via private treaty post-sale.

3.4 Direct Practice Exchange: Listings placed on the direct exchange represent commercial invitations to treat or fixed-price purchase opportunities managed via Vetecom’s central brokerage and escrow facility.

3.5 Order Confirmation: A binding sale on the exchange occurs once a purchase order is submitted by a verified practice and accepted by Vetecom, triggering the issuance of a formal pro-forma invoice and escrow deposit instructions.

4.1 Proprietary Trade-In Workflow: All practice upgrade trade-ins, OEM clearance allocations, and practice asset rotations processed under the Trade-In Solutions™ (TIS / TISa) framework are administered exclusively through Vitecom Ltd’s centralized clearing and logistics infrastructure.

4.2 OEM Integration: Where an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) utilizes the TIS™ framework to facilitate customer upgrades, Vitecom Ltd acts as the independent appraisal and remarketing administrator.

4.3 Underwriting & Residual Values: Any trade-in valuation, guaranteed residual quote, or asset appraisal issued under the TIS™ mechanism is valid for 30 calendar days and remains contingent on passing our physical technical inspection upon decommissioning.

5.1 Buyer's Premium: Unless expressly stated otherwise in a specific catalogue or sale notice, all successful purchases executed via the timed auction platform or direct exchange are subject to a standard Buyer’s Premium of 9% + VAT on the final hammer or agreed purchase price.

5.2 Value Added Tax (VAT): All bids, hammer prices, premium rates, and delivery charges are quoted exclusive of UK VAT, which will be charged at the prevailing rate on the date of invoicing where applicable. 

5.3 Payment Window: Full settlement must be cleared within 48 hours (2 business days) of invoice issuance.

5.4 Payment Pathways: Payments must be made via our secure commercial banking infrastructure, including Open Banking (Pay-by-Bank) clearing facilities, BACS/CHAPS corporate electronic transfer, or verified commercial card processing. 

5.5 Default & Non-Settlement: Failure to settle an invoice within the stipulated window constitutes a material breach. Vetecom reserves the right to cancel the allocation, charge a non-refundable administrative default fee of £250 + VAT, bar the practice from future platform participation, and re-offer the asset.

6.1 Escrow Security: To protect both purchasing surgeries and releasing vendors, all net sale proceeds are held securely in Vetecom’s central escrow clearing account and are not released to the vendor until the technical inspection protocol has elapsed. 

6.2 48-Hour Clinical Inspection Window:

• The purchasing practice is granted a strict 48-hour inspection period commencing precisely upon signed delivery receipt of the equipment at the buyer’s registered practice premises. 
• The purchasing practice must unpack, install, and functionally test the equipment to confirm it matches the diagnostic specifications and operational description provided in the sale listing.
  6.3 Acceptance & Escrow Release:
• If no formal technical defect notice is submitted to Vetecom within 48 hours of signed delivery, the equipment is deemed fully accepted, and net proceeds are irrevocably released to the vendor. 
• Following the expiry of the 48-hour window, the sale is final, absolute, and non-refundable.
  6.4 Dispute & Defect Notification:
• If a critical diagnostic defect or significant material misdescription is identified during the 48-hour window, the buyer must immediately lodge a formal Defect Escalation via their platform portal, supported by clear diagnostic logs, photographs, or video evidence.
• Vetecom will freeze escrow release while an independent technical assessment or manufacturer triage is conducted. If the defect is verified and unresolvable by the vendor/OEM, the transaction will be cancelled, the equipment returned at the vendor’s cost, and the purchase funds refunded in full. 

7.1 Title & Authority: Any practice or OEM listing equipment warrants that it is the sole legal owner of the asset, holds clear and unencumbered title free from any finance agreements, leasing encumbrances, or third-party liens, and possesses full authority to transfer ownership.

7.2 Clinical Hygiene & Decontamination: The releasing vendor is legally obligated to clean, decontaminate, and sanitise all clinical equipment, diagnostic probes, and surgical accessories in accordance with UK veterinary bio-safety standards before collection or dispatch. Decontamination certificates must accompany high-level imaging and surgical units.

7.3 Patient Data Purging: Vendors must permanently erase all client and patient records, animal diagnostic histories, practice identifiers, and DICOM metadata from equipment memory and hard drives prior to handover, in strict accordance with UK GDPR. 

8.1 Clinic-to-Clinic Transport: Due to the delicate calibration of diagnostic ultrasound, digital radiography (DR/CR), endoscopy, and laboratory analysers, equipment transport must be coordinated via Vetecom’s approved specialist medical logistics partners, manufacturer freight, or pre-arranged secure practice collection. 

8.2 Transfer of Risk: Risk of loss or damage to the equipment transfers to the purchasing practice upon physical delivery and signature of the consignment note at the practice destination.

9.1 Software Licences: Where equipment operates proprietary OEM software (e.g. IMV Imaging diagnostic suites, ultrasound analysis modules), the buyer acknowledges that the transfer of physical hardware does not automatically convey software operational licences unless expressly stated in the lot catalogue. 

9.2 Direct OEM Integration: Vetecom actively collaborates with accredited veterinary OEMs. Where applicable, purchasing practices will be directly introduced to the respective OEM to establish direct manufacturer Service Level Agreements (SLAs), planned preventative maintenance (PPM) contracts, software re-licensing, and staff clinical training. 

10.1 Proprietary Trademarks: Vetecom™, Trade-In Solutions™ (TIS), and all associated logos, operational workflows, appraisal algorithms, valuation matrices, and digital architectures are the exclusive intellectual property and proprietary trademarks of Vitecom Ltd.

10.2 Restrictions on Use: No veterinary practice, corporate group, OEM, or commercial user may duplicate, reverse-engineer, adopt, or commercially exploit the Trade-In Solutions™ methodology or any Vetecom software systems without prior written consent from Vitecom Ltd.

11.1 Platform Role: Vetecom acts as an intermediary commercial exchange, marketplace host, and escrow facilitator. To the fullest extent permitted by English law: 

• Vitecom Ltd accepts no liability for indirect, special, or consequential losses, loss of practice revenue, clinical downtime, loss of business opportunity, or patient disruption arising from equipment transactions.
• Total aggregate liability of Vitecom Ltd for any direct claim arising out of a transaction shall not exceed the total Buyer’s Premium and administrative fees received by Vetecom for that specific transaction.
  11.2 Statutory Exclusions: Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes liability for fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation, or death or personal injury caused by proven negligence.
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12.1 Governing Law: These Terms of Business, and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them or their subject matter (including non-contractual disputes), shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales.

12.2 Exclusive Jurisdiction: All participating practices, corporate groups, and vendor entities irrevocably agree that the courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim arising out of platform usage, timed auctions, or exchange transactions.

Vitecom Ltd (Trading as Vetecom)

Company Registration No: 17376487 

Registered Office Address: Worsley House, Windle Street, St. Helens, England, WA10 2BL 

Digital Platforms: vetecom.co.uk | vetecom.auctionmarts.com