And the Winners are ..... National Pest Awards 2026

The Winners of the National Pest Awards have been announced - including the Syngenta-sponsored overall Pest Business of the Year and the Diversity & Inclusion Award

Pest Business of the Year, sponsored by Syngenta - Rentokil

Syngenta Diversity & Inclusion Award - Pest Solutions

Glasgow-based Pest Solutions has a team of 67 across all areas of the business and continues to have success in recruiting from a diverse range of people and attracting interest from a broad representation.

Highlighting its success in the Diversity & Inclusion Award, the company said: For the second year running Pest Solutions has also been named as a finalist for the “Diversity & Inclusion Award”, recognising the continued work being done to make Professional Pest Control a career that is attractive and accessible to the very best people from the whole of the employment market.

In an industry where female employment is estimated at around just 5.5-6%, over 50% of the Pest Solutions service team are female. This is something we are extremely proud of, but it has never been about chasing a statistic or creating a box-ticking exercise.

We simply want to hire the best person for every position we have available, create a culture where good people can thrive and provide the training and development opportunities required to turn people with the right attitude into excellent Pest Professionals.

A big part of this has involved changing the way people see Pest Control as a career in the first place. Through careers events, work with schools, colleges, universities and Developing the Young Workforce, we have worked hard to get Professional Pest Control in front of people who may never previously have considered the industry as a career option.

Our Graduate Scheme has been hugely successful in attracting some fantastic people into the business, but equally important is ensuring that people who do not come through a graduate route have access to the same development pathways and opportunities. Talent is talent, no matter where it comes from.

There is still a huge amount of work for the whole industry to do in this area, so we are delighted to see Pest Minds CIC and Rentokil Pest Control recognised alongside us as finalists. Congratulations to both organisations and we look forward to seeing more and more of the Professional Pest Control industry working together to become more representative of the communities we serve.

Other finalists nominated for the Syngenta Diversity & Inclusion Award included:

Pest Minds CIC

Pest Minds CIC is a not-for-profit that is dedicated to the improvement of mental health and wellbeing across the pest management sector, founded by Anna Mollins (below).

The organisation is working hard to get all pest control businesses to create a more inclusive and aware workplace for those managing mental health conditions.

The Pest Minds Charter is an initiative that provides pest business with a framework that sets out a minimum standard for positive mental health in the workplace, along with developmental ideas that encourage businesses to go above and beyond. 

Anna said the guided self-assessment and supporting resources are completely free to ensure accessibility to all in the industry from, sole traders through the large companies.

She has created a collection of toolbox talks, which cover various aspects of mental health and wellbeing that are specifically relevant to the pest sector.

Rentokil Pest Control

Rentokil Pest Control said it commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion starts at board level, where it continues to maintain high gender parity, moving from a 25% female board in 2017 to 50% in 2021/22, a figure it continues to maintain. 

Ethnic diversity remains a fixture at the top level today, with roughly 25% of members identifying as ethnically diverse. 

The pest control industry has a reputation for being male-dominated, which is something Rentokil Pest Controls actively challenging; on the frontline 9.2% of it workforce is female, as of May 2026. 

Paul Blackhurst, Technical Academy head at Rentokil Pest Control, added that 13% of its surveyors are female, and 6% of its frontline workforce come from ethnic minority backgrounds. 

In 2025, Rentokil Pest Control supported 137 apprentices in the UK.

Its youngest technician, currently studying for their Level 2 qualification, is 18, while its oldest is 54.

Other finalists for the National Pest Awards' categories include: