National Pest Awards Sustainability Initiative 2022
Syngenta Profesional Solutions is the Principal Sponsor of the National Pest Awards. Find out more about the Awards here.
Nominations for National Sustainability Initiative of the Year 2022 are:
Buzz Off
Louise Chapman established Buzz-Off Honey Bee in the summer of 2020 to solve a common occurrence in warmer weather – honey bee swarms. Buzz Off removes honey bees live from buildings and re-homes them.
Louise said: “I believe that we need to take responsibility for wildlife species that are becoming critically endangered and, unfortunately, here in the UK this includes honey bees.
“I am proud of my work and enjoy educating my customers and the general public about the importance of saving bees and I always advise that there is absolutely no need to kill them.”
She said that Buzz Off does not use pesticides or any pollutants which may affect the honey bees, their environment or her clients’ properties.
“Work is carried out by a single team of experts, including live honey bee removal, re- homing and reconstruction of any building work,” Louise said. “Buzz Off aims to carry out work within a single day, to cause less disruption and travel impacts.”
Louise added: “It was amazing to be short-listed as a finalist – I just want to win!”
Luton Borough Council – Pest Control Division
Luton Borough Council’s pest control department is a well- established, experienced team of skilled officers providing a wide range of services within residential, commercial and public space settings.
David Porter, pest control and dog warden operations manager at Luton Borough Council, said that stewardship and suitability means following a set of high level principles which recognises the potential for pesticides to cause harm to the environment as well as to human and animal health.
“It means we recognise that using pesticides carries with it a great deal of responsibility and therefore we apply a hierarchy of risk controls to pesticides from the moment they come into our possession,” David said.
“This covers storage, transport, preparation, use and disposal. The hierarchy of risk applies to all pest control scenarios we are tasked with resolving and the treatment programmes we subsequently devise.”
David said it was “absolutely fantastic” for the team to be recognised for its work.
“I am so proud of my team,” he said, “and I would be absolutely ecstatic to win and we would shout that from the rooftops.”
PGM & Son Pest Control
Phil Martin is the owner of Herefordshire-based business PGM & Son Pest Control, which he established in 2017.
Phil said: “The pest control sector has a major part to play in ensuring the fine balance between controlling pests and retaining the natural order of the animal and insect world while protecting the ecosystem.
“By promoting an integrated pest management approach, we can protect people, food, wildlife and the environment.”
For commercial customers, the company uses traps, non-toxic monitoring bait, rodent stations and guards to reduce risks to non-target species.
Phil said: “If we lay rodenticides, we operate a three-visit programme; we use visit two to check on activity/bait and the third to remove baits from a premises.”
