MEET THE MEMBER | PPC112 September 2023
Rebekah Carral is a pest control business owner based in Scotland. We caught up with her to find out a bit more about Barricade Pest Control, how she fell into the industry and her pest control passions.
PPC First off, tell us a bit about yourself.
RC I’m Edinburgh born and bred, I’ve lived here all my life! I currently live in Edinburgh city centre but will be moving to Musselburgh in the next month or two. My partner Sean and I have two little girls, aged four and two.
My children and Barricade keep me very busy now, it’s not easy running a business and raising children. So when I’m not working I’m always spending time with my kids and taking them out on family trips or spending time at home doing activities.
PPC Tell us about your work background – did you have any jobs prior to being in the pest control industry?
RC I worked for Nike for many years and had worked my way up into managerial roles, but my main speciality was product presentation and visual merchandising. I really loved my time with Nike and had so many amazing opportunities with them over the years, from store openings to travelling and meeting some huge names in the Nike world.
I even moved down to Leeds for a short while as the assistant head coach (assistant manager) of a store they opened. The highlight of my career in Nike was going to the European headquarters in Amsterdam and being part of a huge event there. Eventually the passion started to fade for Nike, and I started seeking a new challenge.
PPC And is that when you joined the pest management industry?
RC Yeah, I started working in pest control in 2017, when I was 24. I had no previous experience in the industry and I had never owned a business, but my mum and stepdad have owned a successful pest control company in Edinburgh for many years.
Quite honestly, I had never really given pest control a thought until I met my partner, Sean. He was working in car sales, but both Sean and I were no longer passionate about the jobs we had, and we were seeking a new challenge.
Fun fact: Sean and I had only officially been in a relationship for four months before setting up our company. When I think back, I really have no idea why we didn’t give it much thought or hesitation, but it was obviously meant to be!
I was living with my mum and stepdad, and we could see the demand for pest control in Edinburgh while listening to them and seeing just how much business they turned away.
PPC And that’s when you decided to start Barricade Pest Control?
RC Sort of! But instead of offering all services, we set up a proofing company called Barricade Pest Proofing. We could also see that rodent proofing was starting to become popular and no one was really advertising this in our area.
Sean left his job, however I decided to continue to work for Nike full time through the first eight months of starting our business. Once I left Nike to give Barricade my full attention, I realised I should have done it a lot sooner. There was just always the hesitation and niggling doubts that I was leaving a good job for something I had never done before. But I’m so glad I did.
A few months into running Barricade Pest Proofing we realised that a lot of clients would have preferred that we offered all aspects of pest control. That’s when we decided to get trained up and offer all services, so Barricade Pest Control was born.
PPC You were in the deep end a little, having never run a business or been working in pest control! Tell us what it was like in that first year.
RC We started out very humbly – we had £1,000 to cover our insurance, some basic materials, business cards, flyers, and magnet signs for Sean’s Ford Fiesta! We spent most of those first months dropping flyers into businesses, communal stairwells and homes around the Edinburgh area, and managed to secure our first few commercial contracts by doing so (all of which we still have today).
We traded using these basic materials until being able to afford our first company van, which we became the proud owners of in April 2018. As money started to flow, we began to invest into our brand image and marketing, and we were keen to have a brand that people would remember. We now offer services across Edinburgh, the Lothians and Glasgow.
PPC What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced when running a business?
RC Running Barricade has been exceptionally rewarding but it has come with some sacrifices and challenges along the way. Since starting our company I’ve had two children, which is a huge responsibility alongside keeping a business going.
Another challenge we’ve faced starting a business so young was trying to get onto the property ladder.
We’ve finally purchased our first home after renting in central Edinburgh for years and we are exceptionally proud of ourselves! I had no idea how difficult it would be regarding accounts and ensuring we had at least two years of accounts before applying for a mortgage. And I also didn’t realise that when we went limited, we would have to wait another two years again!
These are things I feel should be taught in schools, because sometimes you just don’t realise how complicated business ownership can be, and how it can affect things like mortgage applications.
Our most recent challenges have been around recruitment. Not many people outside of the industry realise how rewarding a job in pest control can really be until they have had some insight into it, so attracting the right talent has always taken a little longer than we would like.
PPC What’s your current role at Barricade?
RC I do everything except carrying out the pest control work. My main duties include customer relations, booking and scheduling, team training, recruitment, marketing and everything else required to run the business.
I have a fantastic team now and I’m able to delegate jobs to other members of the team. My office administrator, Holly, does a fantastic job supporting me with everything she can.
PPC What are you most passionate about when it comes to pest control?
RC I am very passionate about bees! Bee season excites me, and I absolutely love being able to share helpful and positive information to our clients about bees and their importance. I’d love to become a beekeeper too!
I also enjoy being a calming voice on the telephone and providing reassurance to our clients. Pest control is such a sensitive subject and I feel our clients deserve a personable service throughout the process. It’s important for me that our clients feel important themselves, and that their own thoughts and feelings are valid.
I love that I’ve gained huge amounts of knowledge throughout the years and enjoy being able to diagnose some issues for our clients before our technicians have reached the site to inspect. That’s what makes me tick!
Over the years I have been approached by media outlets and networking groups to provide information or talks on my time in the industry or issues faced in the local area. I always love being able to help people or hopefully inspire them to consider setting up in business, or even better, joining the pest industry!
PPC Last year you joined the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee at BPCA. What drew you to becoming a committee member?
RC Being a female in the industry was a challenge in the early days, as well as starting out so young. In joining the committee, I hope to inspire many other people from all walks of life to give pest control a go. I know once they do, they won’t ever look back!
Right now the EDI committee is focused on the recruitment issues in the sector, which I know many business owners are struggling with. I’m exceptionally proud to be a part of the committee and I look forward to seeing the progress that we make!
Interested in representing the pest management industry?
Join a BPCA Committee! All full members can nominate someone from their team to join
a committee.
bpca.org.uk/groups