At the Confederation of European Pest Management Associations (CEPA) General Assembly held on 20 January in Brussels, Belgium, Henry Mott of Nottingham-based Conquer Pest Control was elected to the position of Vice President. The role is for a two-year term. In his presentation before the vote, Henry said "I recognise that it is only through uniting the industry so that it speaks with one voice at an individual country and European level, and indeed even on a worldwide scale, can we truly effect positive change. The opportunity of being directly involved in the delivery of service to clients, whilst being enjoyable, I believe this role will give me a closer appreciation of how the direction of new and constantly changing legislation and other factors affecting our industry impacts directly on our ability to solve pest issues."

Henry continued "Without a doubt I see CEPA as the key European Pest control industry brand, which has established a reputation that enables our industry to present our views to influential people who firstly might listen, and secondly might be prepared to push against the ‘green agenda' that would effectively like to see our industry disappear. The new CEPA Certified Standard is a key part of this recognition and it is vital that the hard work put into achieving ratification by CEN leads to a take up by large numbers of professional pest control companies."

The vote, which followed the presentation was unanimously in favour. Also elected were Bertrand Montmoreau as President for a second term of office, and Frederick Verwilghen as Honorary Treasurer. Henry will begin his role immediately as Patrick Vernie of Bayer stood down as Vice-President at the General Assembly.

In conclusion, Henry stated "I believe we need to develop a concerted and coordinated strategy based on portraying a positive image to the general public of the vital role that our industry delivers at a European level in respect of public health, food safety, environmental sustainability and financial importance. Unless we can demonstrate the essential role we play, further restrictive legislation will eventually strangle our ability to meet our basic obligations to our customers of controlling pests. The strategy of our industry as a whole should be not be based on the chemicals we use, but more on what the impact would be of not having an industry that controls pests."

About Henry

Henry (46) is married with three children. He began his pest control career in 1993 with Rentokil in Central London before buying a regional servicing company in 2005, operating in general pest control, bird management and fumigation. Henry has been President of the British Pest Control Association (2012-14), and currently, sits on the BPCA Board as Immediate Past President.