BPCA has a full-time pest control Technical team who are there to support our members – but who’s on the team and what sort of support can they give? We thought it was worth giving you a proper introduction to our Tech team, what they do, and most importantly – how they can help your business succeed!
First off, our Technical team is made up of three people: Dee, Natalie and Kevin. Our Staff team is considerably bigger than this, but these three are employed full time by the Association because of their experience and expertise in pest management.
What can the technical team help you with?
- Health and safety concerns
- Problem-solving in the field
- Practical product application
- Complaint resolution
- Apply for a tender
- Certification and audit advice.
While this is by no means an exhaustive list, you get an idea of the scope of support the team is happy to help with.
Above all, we’re here to help you make decisions and problem solve tricky situations, be it pests or customers! We’re your sounding board or “helpful friend”.
The team is available by phone, email, or in person is you require it.
Meet the team
If you have a technical question, you’ll always be referred to either Natalie, Dee or Kevin.
For straight forward questions, you’ll probably get referred to whoever happens to be free at the time. If it’s a bit more specialist, you might have to wait for the most appropriate member of the team to get back to you – but don’t worry, this typically doesn’t take long.
Natalie Bungay, BPCA Field Officer
Natalie has years of pest control experience including working as a supervisor for Leeds City Council. She’s been with BPCA since March 2013, so lots of members know here very well.
She spends most of her time travelling throughout the UK supporting BPCA members. Somehow, she still makes time to contribute to lots of PPC magazine articles, sit on various steering groups and committees, and assists with the management of the EN 16636 auditing for all servicing members.
Receiving calls, emails, and text messages from members for a little bit of treatment advice or being used as a soundboard on a tricky pest issue is what I enjoy the most about my role as Technical Officer. Be it questions about legislation and what can legally be done or a pest species that you've not dealt with for some years, we can help. Your calls aren't seen as an inconvenience for any of us. We genuinely enjoy these discussions and advisory elements to our roles at the BPCA!
Natalie Bungay, BPCA Technical Officer
Kevin Higgins, BPCA Membership Manager
Kevin’s just celebrated his tenth year working for BPCA. Before joining the team, he was the owner of a BPCA member company and did his time as President of the Association. It’s fair to say there’s not much Kevin doesn’t know about BPCA and the unique struggles professional pest control companies face.
As well as owning a pest management company, Kevin’s worked for the military and provided pest consultant in Saudi, Egypt and the Trucial Oman states.
He spends a lot of his time on the road, meeting prospective and existing members. He’s a busy guy, but he always makes time for pest control business questions. Nobody wants a BPCA member company to succeed more than Kevin.
Regular contact with our members and discussing business and technical problems is our lifeblood. We help interpret legislation, codes, and make sense of jargon so that you can spend more time on the day job. Questions arise on employment and discussing it with someone with experience of the same thing can eliminate a lot of the concerns. We're all in the business of prevention, so a call to the team can often prevent problems from arising.
Kevin Higgins, BPCA Membership Manager
Dee Ward Thompson, BPCA Technical Manager
Dee’s been our Technical manager now for four years, and in her time here, she’s helped get all our servicing members audited to the EN 16636 standard and got nearly 25% of them certified to the standard.
Dee’s background is in operational quality and food safety management and was the technical manager for OCS Cannon before joining our Staff team.
She spends a lot of her time talking to specifiers about how great BPCA members are but still says she’d rather be looking for rats than in a long meeting.
I’ve always had a deep routed interest in pests from my days as a pig farmer. My happiest days are when they are spent solving a pest problem on my knees under the counter. I joined the industry with an aim to get pest management the recognition it deserves as the protectors of public health and not the “Rat Man".
Dee Ward-Thompson, BPCA Technical Manager
But our technical support doesn't end there. If there’s something we don’t know, we know the person who does. We have 76 years work of contacts throughout the industry and the manufacturers and distributors you use every day are more than likely in membership and happy to help too.
Even if it’s not a technical question, BPCA has a full complement of professional staff members available to talk to you about your development requirements, qualifications, marketing and social media, exhibiting at events, and promoting your company.
Plus, there are the guys at BPCA BusinessShield for all your health, safety and HR issues.
BPCA support is available to ALL member companies, no matter their size. In fact, we spend way more time helping sole traders and microbusinesses than the huge national companies.
If you’re a member, BPCA’s got your back.
How to get technical support
If you work for a BPCA member company, it’s super simple to get professional advice.
You can email the team direct at technical@bpca.org.uk
Alternatively, call us at the office, and we’ll see who’s available for you.
01332 294 288 (Get us saved on your phone if you haven’t already).
Source: Online