Tune in to Talking Pest Management, a new series of short topical video interviews undertaken with pest professionals around the world – made by pest professionals and aimed at pest professionals. All are available either direct to individual’s emails or via WhatsApp and shown on YouTube.
The series is the brain child of Daniel Schröer, who is based in Germany and is chief executive officer of specialist product manufacturer, Futura. Each interview is undertaken by Daniel with an industry leader, entrepreneur, technical expert or practical pest controller who gives the series an on-the-ground hands-on perspective. Those selected are known for saying what they think and are not afraid of sharing their opinions. Each interview is quite informal, recorded in the interviewees office and shown uncut and unedited. There are no commercial references to products or any advertising. Each interview varies in length, ranging from 15 to 50 minutes.
As Daniel explains: “My aim is to speak to those well known in the industry, to explore their views and to be able to share these with listeners across the globe. Neither our, nor anyone else’s products are mentioned or promoted in the interviews.
“With all industry gatherings currently cancelled there can be no better time for this to happen. Every speaker selected knows first-hand what is happening in the industry. I want these discussions to represent the pulse of the industry and not just in Europe, but from leaders in other parts of the world as well. My aim is to record one interview per week.”
Interviews with UK leaders
The most recent interview released was with Ian Andrew, chief executive of the British Pest Control Associations (BPCA). In the interview, Ian discusses the problems faced by the professional pest control industry thrown up by the Covid-19 pandemic. He explains how the industry has recovered from an initial feeling of shell shock to the position now of pest controllers being recognised as key workers. “Our main priority from the very start has been to support our members and to clarify what they needed to do. The biggest challenge, without doubt, was to ensure pest control was awarded key worker status which we have achieved,” Ian explains.
Ian goes on to talk about the survey BPCA has recently undertaken with its members. Shockingly this revealed that 44% of respondents claimed they were, or had, suffered from mental health issues. Why this is and what people can do to overcome the problem is discussed.
Ian’s interview follows one posted a couple of weeks ago with Henry Mott of Conquer Pest Control, and also president of the Confederation of European Pest Management Associations (CEPA). Henry too discusses the effects of the Covid-19 crisis but at a local business level. He warns that some business may have shut down too rapidly and run the risk of discovering their customers feel they can manage without them. Also concerning current activities, another interview, this time with Gareth Davies of Terminix UK, highlights what opportunities there are, particularly regarding disinfection activities.
Picking up on the opportunities of offering a disinfection service, Ronen Amichai, CEO of IPM Pest Control in Israel, outlined the services his company has introduced, particularly to the food manufacturing sector. He also explained: “Pest control relies very much on person to person interaction, but with the covid-19 situation this is now impossible. However, where we have installed digital remote monitoring devices with customers, these have really come into their own. We are able to advise them of rodent activity without entering the site at all.”
For the future…
A whole series of industry leaders and practitioners is lined up to appear in the future. Soon to appear from the food sector is Tony O’Donovan from Tesco, from overseas Håkan Kjellberg from Anticimex in Sweden, to be joined by the more familiar UK faces of Richard Moseley of Bayer and Mark Porter of Porters Pest Control based in London.
Sign-up today so you don’t miss out. It’s completely free and each time a new interview is released a link will be sent to your computer or phone so you can watch it when it’s convenient.
To register simply contact Talking Pest Management at info@futura-germany.com.
All previous interviews recorded can be seen on YouTube and are also available as audio podcasts on Spotify or on Apple.
