PPC111 | Meet the member

PPC magazine interviewed Paul Cooper, MD of BPCA member company London Network for Pest Solutions. He tells us about what it’s like to work for a company owned by a local authority and why his BPCA membership is so vital to their success. 

PPC| Can you tell us a bit about LNPS and how the company works? You have a pretty unique setup, right?

PAUL| London Network for Pest Solutions is a small pest control company with a turnover of about £1.3m. We have 21 staff and mostly specialise in domestic treatments, although we carry out all aspects of pest control. While the company is wholly owned by the London Borough of Newham, we are not a council team or department but a fully functioning, independent company.

In 2022, we were awarded a BPCA Spotlight Award for the work done by our admin team and, in the same year, won the Best Small Pest Control Company category at the National Pest Awards.

PPC| LNPS is a servicing member of BPCA, why did you want to join?

PAUL| For many years as a manager of council pest services in two different local authorities, I looked enviously at companies that were in BPCA. To me, BPCA epitomises professionalism in the industry.

Local authority pest teams are often regarded as council rat catchers, and I wanted to join the ranks of the professional pest control officers. I knew that BPCA could help me and the team with that transformation.

When we went live as a business in February 2017, joining BPCA was one of the first things I wanted to do. Even though there were many changes that had to be made as we transferred from the council pest team to a pest control company (HR providers, payroll services, registering with companies house and HMRC etc), membership of BPCA was the icing on the cake.

We also wanted to achieve CEPA BS EN 16636 accreditation and knew this would not be possible without BPCA’s support.

PPC| What’s the BPCA journey been like so far? How did you find your assessments?

PAUL| Well, to be honest, I can remember that, outwardly, I was full of bravado and confidence but inside I was petrified that we would not hit the high standards required. As I said, I had always envied the professionalism of BPCA. I had always set out my stall as a professional, but as a local authority, very few of your processes are looked at and challenged.

Updates would come via Killgerm, who supplied most of our products, but that was information given to act on. Membership of BPCA was going to involve an assessment of our processes, an audit that was going to ensure we were achieving the standards set by other professional pest control companies via the main trade body.

I wanted to ensure that we would have everything in place for a smooth process. I found a lot of documents on the BPCA website. Initially, they were quite daunting, but very quickly, I realised that we were already using some of the processes – we just hadn’t documented or evidenced them. I think this is very common with local authority pest control teams.

Once we put our heads together, it was all quite easy, really. We were short in a few areas, but the things we changed or added were actually an enhancement to the business and set us up as equals with the rest of the professionals. Once ready, we applied to join and had an initial assessment by Natalie Bungay, and passed!

PPC| I bet that was a relief!

PAUL| Well, I was over the moon. I had been in pest control for over 25 years, and while I’m fairly well-known in the industry, I finally felt like I had arrived! It’s funny because once accepted, you get an email and a certificate in the post, but what you get as recognition is nothing compared to the sense of achievement you feel.

If I think back, I was probably hoping for a ceremony and a certificate and keys to the pest control achievers’ executive toilet! But, joking aside, it was a tremendous feeling of achievement in the company. We wanted everyone to know, and the first thing we did was put the BPCA member logo on the front page of our website.

Of course, we did go on to get CEPA accreditation, but thinking back, passing our BPCA assessments gave me a much better sense of pride.

PPC| What keeps you returning to membership year after year?

PAUL| The same reason we joined. It’s the professional trade body. It’s a sales tool. And it signifies quality and professionalism within the industry. As the main trade body, it is trusted by customers and members and signifies quality, trustworthiness and professionalism.

It also gives us access to so much up-to-date information. LNPS won a Chamber of Commerce award for work during the lockdown and Covid, and the work that BPCA put into advising members during this challenging period was second to none.

PPC| Thinking about your career in both councils and commercial companies, is it beneficial for everyone?

PAUL| Yes, I think so. BPCA is open to everyone, from sole traders to large companies and even local authorities, but it wasn’t always the case. There used to be a separate category for councils, but this has changed, and they can now join as full members.

I actually think local authorities can benefit the most from membership. Many already take advantage of the webinars, seminars and industry trade shows organised by both NPTA and BPCA. With the CPD membership through BPCA Registered, it’s quite cost-effective.

As I said previously, for local authorities, there is very little peer review. A BPCA assessment and access to procedures and guidance documents, CPD quizzes and attendance at webinars would really help to build that professionalism.

PPC| Do you think there are any barriers preventing other local authorities from joining BPCA?

PAUL| Now that they can join, they should, but I think the biggest barrier is the membership fee. It’s not too much, and I actually think it’s real value for money, but it’s based on annual turnover, and councils don’t really have a turnover that converts into profit or profit margins. They have a budget set by the council.

I would love to see more councils become members of BPCA. They wouldn’t present a challenge to the business of most companies because they generally don’t do commercial pest control. They specialise in domestic pest control, and many commercial companies are not interested in low-value, low-profit domestic business.

After the cost barrier, I think there is an underlying worry that maybe they would be judged and fail.

In my experience, that will not happen. You won’t be judged and criticised. You are guided by BPCA's Technical and Membership team. They, like me, are passionate about pest control, and will use their skills and expertise to guide you and help you to pass.

Interested in BPCA membership or know someone that might be?

Have a no-obligation informal chat today with one of our team.

01332 225 112
membership@bpca.org.uk