Chief Exec viewpoint | PPC91 May 2018

Welcome to my first Chief Exec viewpoint in PPC magazine. I thought I’d spend my inaugural page talking about my first impressions of the industry and what I’ve been up to since my appointment. A tricky task for 600 words but I’ll give it a go.

First off, we’ve revealed our revamped three-year strategy for the Association.

I won’t go into detail here but a crucial theme throughout it is member engagement. Engagement takes many forms, whether that’s coming to our events, checking in with us over the phone, using your member benefits, or reading our publications. Having looked through plenty of PPCs now, I’ve noticed our first two editions this year have a lot of member contributions. Servicing, M&D, Consultant and Associate members have all come together to help make this edition possible. I’d encourage anyone who wants to get involved with the magazine to contact us via hello@bpca.org.uk – after all, PPC is the voice of BPCA and it’s members. Use it as you see fit!

In my first few months in the role of CEO I have had the opportunity to visit several members and experience a few days in the life of a pest controller, as well as hearing more about our members’ experiences and expectations of BPCA. I also completed the BPCA/RSPH Level 2 Award in Pest Management - truly a great course. The trainer did a superb job in making the course as participative as possible and employed a wide range of training aids, such as live specimens, surveys, and time in the conference centre kitchens - and we still enjoyed our meals afterwards!

Thankfully, RSPH has now confirmed that I passed the exam (phew). I can’t say that sitting a three-hour exam was the best way to spend a Friday afternoon and I was also left wondering whether this is the best way to assess whether someone is a competent pest controller. Pest management education certainly shouldn’t stop after the Level 2!

Initially, I was pretty disappointed not to have come face-to-face with many pests out in the field (yes, I was literally out in a field). Now I’ve had time to think about it, I see this might be a good thing. It shows that pest prevention and intervention by our members works. Prevention is better than the cure, and we need the whole sector and, more importantly, those who buy or procure pest management services, to better understand the benefits of a pest prevention regime and professional help. 

While understanding the value of prevention is evident in the commercial market, it is less so in the domestic market, and again we need to do more work with the public to develop this understanding. Our new end-user blog, PestAware, and our work exhibiting at various associated sectors events goes some way towards spreading the word but we all have our part to play in shouting about the importance of our sector. My colleague on the BPCA Board, Mike Ayers, talks more about our responsibility to both be and promote professionalism. 

It is an interesting time for our sector, and I’m keen to ensure that BPCA is doing everything it reasonably can to support our members as the industry evolves. I am sure that as the year progresses you will hear more about what we have planned and how some of these initiatives are progressing. 

Ian Andrew
Chief Executive
1 May 2018  |  PPC91

Source: PPC91