PPC111 | Events
PPC Live took place on 22 March 2023 at the Yorkshire Event Centre in Harrogate. For most of you that probably feels like a lifetime ago already.
But for the Staff team at BPCA, we’ve spent even more time since then poring over the feedback, statistics, and talking about what we’ve learned and what we can take into future events.
The fun never stops, am I right?! But sometimes it’s nice to take a step back, put the statistics down and reflect on the success of the day.
PPC magazine reporter Kat Shaw shares her highlights from the year’s biggest UK pest management trade show and exhibition.
Jump to PPC Live in numbers
Home to roost?
PPC Live has evolved over the years. It’s the sister show to PestEx, but its purpose is different; while PestEx is bigger, bolder and international, PPC Live is designed to be informal, hands-on and more accessible for those who live in the deep north.
It’s been BPCA’s travelling trade show in the past, but in 2020 and 2023 it seems to have found a temporary home in the heart of Harrogate.
It’s easy to see why we chose to come back here again. If we’re talking bare basics, the Yorkshire Event Centre hall where PPC Live sets up shop is spacious, light and clean.
There’s also plenty of seating in the large dining area, which sports huge windows that look out onto the YEC grounds. Some of us did some quick bird watching from there!
But basics aside, this location provides a beautiful rural backdrop to the show that we just don’t get with any other of the big pest control events in the UK. It was this which inspired our team to kick the day off with a practical Environmental Risk Assessments demonstration.
From there we had a full day of expert seminars and demonstrations.
The indoor demonstration area proved to be much more popular than we could have anticipated, and the outdoor demonstration area, to our relief, remained shockingly rain-free.
All the outdoor demonstrations were great but the highlight was Simon Whitehead’s talk on rural pest management; Simon is obviously passionate about what he does and that came across throughout. He answered questions in a lot of detail and of course, the ferrets were hella cute.
Some of the indoor demonstrations were heaving with attendees, particularly the bird netting demonstration from Elaine at PestFix and, even at the end of the day, the insect ID session from Paul Westgate (Veritas Pest Consultancy) and Alex Wade (Wade Environmental).
The indoor seminars were consistently full, with my personal favourite being the tag team job that Alex and John Horsley (BPCA) did on Root Cause Analysis. Give them their own TV show, make Nat Bungay the host and you’ve got a hit.
This year we had the additional ‘Forum Sessions’, which were designed to be informal debates about controversial topics, such as the longevity of the Level 2 Award or diversity in the industry.
While it was hoped these would spark some discussion and ideas, they weren’t busy areas of the show and unfortunately it seems people weren’t entirely sure of their purpose.
Having said that, Beaver Pest Control’s Julia Pittman led a session titled “Pest control is a man’s world” which I was pleased to see was popular, and I watched as she did a great job discussing the importance of making this an industry for all.
It wouldn’t be a BPCA event without the opportunity to meet and network with other attendees, industry professionals and pest control experts. And it was interesting to speak to the large delegation from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in attendance, who all seemed genuinely interested in the work our sector does.
Our exhibitors make up the bulk of the event space, and while the PPC Live event in 2020 saw last minute cancellations due to Covid, we had no such problem this year.
“It wouldn’t be a BPCA event without the opportunity to meet and network with other attendees, industry professionals and pest control experts.”
The hall was packed with all the latest and greatest in pest control technology.
I got to watch as our enthusiastic new Marketing and Communications Officer had a go at lifting an access cover with a CoverUp Key on the Inspector Pipes/DCR Inspection Systems stand.
In fact, the DCR stand was fairly popular throughout the day, where they were demonstrating their remote-operated crawler cameras used for inspecting sewer systems.
We had fun playing ‘guess the insect’ on the Lodi UK stand; it had a very ‘I’m a celebrity, get me out of here’ vibe.
And the prize for creativity in stand building probably goes to PestFix, who built theirs out of bird netting!
Another popular stand was Netherlands-based PestScan, who were offering one-month free trials of their pest control reporting software to attendees. And they brought a dartboard with them, because, erm, why not?!
PestScan were pleased with how the event went, telling me: “It’s been a great day, and we’re particularly pleased because we’ve made a decision to focus quite heavily on the market here in England. We’ll definitely be back!”
High fives all round
In the end, the numbers speak for themselves. Our attendance figures were higher than ever, and the feedback has been compellingly positive.That doesn’t mean the day didn’t have its setbacks.
Unfortunately there were a few snags with the refreshments, when the venue lost internet connection and couldn’t operate the tills. It was quickly fixed but not before some of us succumbed to hunger and ate some insect specimens.
But the feedback on Harrogate and YEC as the location has been overwhelmingly positive.
As you can imagine, it’s tough to find somewhere that suits absolutely everyone. But Harrogate is a great central point in the country, which gives as many people as possible the opportunity to attend.
It may seem like tooting our own horn, but overall PPC Live was another engaging and well-organised event.
The credit for that goes to the BPCA Events team, Lauren, Sarah and Beth. Between the three of them they manage to pull off bigger and better events than the Association has done before.
They know that PPC Live is for technicians, the people on the ground battling bed bugs and warring against wasps day in, day out. So each year they’ve added more demonstrations, indoor and outdoor, and more opportunities to get your mitts on all kinds of kit.
And they won’t stop here. I know I speak for everyone when I say that I can’t wait to see what they do at PestEx 2024 and beyond.
PPC Live 2023 in numbers
PPC Live 2023 as rated by visitors and exhibitors...
Why did people attend?
Visitor role in the buying process
Total visitors excluding exhibitors
Top 10 ways to hear about PPC Live
Give us a steer
Got an idea for an event that you want to share with the team? Contact us!
events@bpca.org.uk