MEET THE TECHNICIAN | PPC113 November 2023

Ian Adamson is General Manager at Precision Consulting, based in Yorkshire. He spoke to PPC about his love of science, career pathways for young and mature people, and how he hopes to shine a spotlight on invisible disabilities in the industry.

PPC We know a lot of people didn’t start their working careers in pest control – did you? 

IA I certainly didn’t. I actually started off working for Midland Bank, then I did a few jobs relating to retail.

When I was younger, I was a little bit naughty and got chucked out of college, so I didn’t go to university. But after working those jobs, it got to a point in my life where I wasn’t enjoying what I was doing, and my wife and I sat down to talk and we decided that I should have a shot at university. So that’s what I did, I went back as a mature student.

PPC At what age did you go to university?

IA Around 26. I graduated in 1998 with a degree in biology from University of York, but the first thing I had to do once I graduated was find work because I had bills to pay!

I picked up The Grocer magazine because I was expecting to have to go back into retail and there it was: an advert for pest control surveyors for a company called Dynokil. And would you believe it, at the bottom in small print it just said, “if you’ve got a degree in biology and fancy being a biologist for our company, give us a call”.

I phoned a guy called Karl Wilkinson, who was technical manager at the time and the rest is history. I’d never thought of pest control as a career. But there it was, it fell into my lap. And it just so happened I was really good at it, and I’ve enjoyed it ever since.

PPC Sounds like returning to university as a mature student worked out quite well for you. What would you say to people who maybe are in that same situation, don’t enjoy what they’re doing but think the time for retraining or university has passed?

IA Just go for it, it’s never too late. I know that at the moment we’re working a lot on trying to get young people into pest control, through the work of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee. But there are a lot of mature people out there too, for whom this would be a brilliant career change.

The thing is, I don’t know many people who at the age 16 and 17 know what they want to do with their lives. And some of them are going to get it wrong. I’ve got a 17-year-old son now and he did a year at college, and hated it. And he sat down and said, “Dad, I’ve wasted a year of my life”.

I disagreed. I said “You just learned something about yourself, and life is about learning”. I’ve done this job now for 25 years, but I started when I was 30. All those years before that I was just learning about me and what I actually really wanted to do. And in the end it was a decision that was half made for me, which put me on the track to doing something that I really love.

Often, young people are forced down paths they don’t particularly want to go down, but they need to know that you don’t always have to stick at something you don’t enjoy. Not everybody wants to go to university or college, or do a stressful job. But then there are other people who need to experiment and find something else that challenges them in different ways. It just takes more time for some people than others to figure out what they want out of a job.

There’s a lot of pressure on young people to know very quickly what they want to do, and it’s just not how the world works, is it? We aren’t programmed, we’re all individuals with different goals. My son and I both have autism, but that doesn’t mean we’re the same person. We have that shared experience, but we have different habits, different mindsets. 

“The thing is, I don’t know many people who at the age 16 and 17 know what they want to do with their lives. And some of them are going to get it wrong.”

PPC Absolutely, very true. If you don’t mind us asking, do you find that your autism comes into play in the way that you work and the job that you do?

IA I’m happy to speak about it. I mean the beauty of the job that I do is that a lot of my autistic traits filter into it very well. I’m very meticulous, very fixated on solving problems, and ever since I could talk I’ve been fascinated by the natural world.

There are some disadvantages that I have to work through, though. When I’m talking to people, I’m overly blunt sometimes and that can be difficult when I’m auditing. I’m not very good at multitasking, so if I’m typing up a report I have to put my phone on silent and I have to switch my emails off, so I can focus on what I’m doing.  

Working from home helps with having fewer distractions. While I don’t mind being part of a team, I’m not a big group person and I find working in an office a bit overwhelming at times, with all the noise and the bustle.

That’s why what I do suits me, because I’m out on the road by myself most of the time. My directors know me, they know that the job is going to get done and that, you know, I’ll contact them if I need anything, they’re very understanding.

PPC You say pest control fell into your lap, but it sounds almost like fate, like it was a job that was meant for you.

IA Oh, you see, you sound like my wife now! She says “everything happens for a reason”.

For example, I was made redundant during the pandemic; people were turning auditors away from sites because in the beginning we weren’t classed as essential. And the company I was with wanted to change the management structure because they’d recently been bought out, so they took the opportunity to do it mid-pandemic. I got talking to Mike Ayers who owns Precision Pest Management, about the idea of setting up a consultancy with the same brand.

Long story short, that’s how I ended up General Manager of Precision Consulting. It was fantastic because I didn’t have the financial backing to be able to spend two or three years building a business on my own. It worked out perfectly, and my wife said “everything happens for a reason” and the infuriating thing is: she’s always right!

PPC What made you decide to pitch a consultancy, why not just go look for a random field biologist job for another company?

IA I have an auditing qualification and I enjoy the auditing side of it as much as the field biology role. This way I get to combine both.

Yesterday I was in Northern Ireland just doing biologist inspections for another pest control company. The week before that I was on site auditing a pest control company. It’s hard to get that balance between working with the pest control contractor and being blatantly honest with the customer about times when service isn’t where it should be, and like I said before, with my autism I perhaps tend to be a little bit more blunt than I should be sometimes.

But it’s about pooling our resources and working together to provide a good service; customer, contractor and auditor. If things aren’t right, let’s talk about how to put them right. 

And let’s never assume we all individually know best; I’ve got 25 years’ experience, which is a lot, but I might be working on an audit with someone who has 40 years’ experience in pest control. And then you might get someone who has only been in the industry a few years, but is thirsty for knowledge. You combine all of that skill and that’s you making a great team.

“As long as employers make reasonable adjustments for people with disabilities, they can be a valuable part of your team.”

PPC You’re on the EDI Committee that we mentioned earlier, why did you join and what are you hoping to achieve from it?

IA I joined it because of my autism. I want people to know that pest control can be for anybody. As long as employers make reasonable adjustments for people with disabilities, they can be a valuable part of your team.

I’m the general manager of a company now and I have autism. I’m proud of the fact that I’ve found a role that really suits me and it’s important that we don’t dismiss people who may be very good at this job. Don’t get me wrong, having autism does come with disadvantages. But if you can work around those disadvantages then you can use the advantages, and that’s what employers need to know.

For every disadvantage I have, I’ve got a bunch of significant advantages as well. People can be a bit silent about invisible disabilities, like autism, dyslexia, or ADHD. That’s why I wanted to join the EDI Committee, to give a voice at BPCA about that side of the coin.

PPC Well said. One last question: what would you say that you’re most passionate about in terms of pest control?

IA I enjoy looking at trends, I’m very passionate about the correct use of data. We collect a lot of data as pest controllers and I get a bit disappointed with how little is used. I’m also passionate about teaching people; I do a little training for BPCA here and there, and for clients.

I’ve got a training session lined up with a supermarket in the next couple of weeks, just training auditors in knowing what good pest control looks like. 

And I love getting to bring science into it. People have this very old-fashioned rat catcher idea of what pest control looks like. But it’s not. It’s a very cerebral, very calculated job that we do, and to be good at it you really have to be multi-skilled as well as have the ability to learn and understand biology, chemistry, maths and so on.

I think it’s one of the biggest culture shifts we need to see, as an industry; that we’re recognised as the skilled and smart professionals we are.

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