PPC123 | EDITORIAL
We’ve recently been invited to lead a Trade Association Forum roundtable at its best practice exchange in London. The subject is membership magazines, and the invite comes off the back of PPC magazine winning Trade Association Magazine of the Year in 2025.
It’s a lovely bit of recognition, but, more importantly, it has made us stop and think properly about why BPCA still produces a 50-plus-page printed magazine for the pest management sector.
Each issue of PPC is a big undertaking. It takes time, planning, late-night proofreading, good humour, a healthy respect for deadlines and the support of a huge number of staff, volunteers, writers, advertisers and contributors. It doesn’t just appear by magic (despite what the production schedule sometimes seems to suggest).
When I [Scott] started at BPCA nearly ten years ago, PPC 85 copy was late going to the designer, and I was still very new to pest management. Finding features, writers and interviewees felt daunting.
But PPC turned out to be one of the best ways to learn the sector.
It helped me meet members. It helped me understand the people, the businesses, the technical debates and the practical realities behind professional pest management. It introduced me to the thought leaders, the quiet grafters, the specialists, the volunteers and the people with stories you couldn’t make up if you tried.
More than 35 issues later, the magazine has changed a lot.
We’ve set targets for member voices, features, online readers and new writers. The page count has grown. The frequency has moved from four issues a year to three, giving us more time to make each edition count. The design has moved fully in-house. We use responsibly sourced paper and production methods. Our Outreach and Communications Committee has also taken on more responsibility for the magazine’s direction.
At its best, PPC is the sector talking to itself.
We’re very proud of the little community PPC magazine has cultivated over the years. We’re not afraid to ask big questions. We’re willing to take a risk on a controversial opinion piece (I once wrote to Chris Packham asking if he fancied a page - he declined - but at least saved us all from a comments section that would still be burning now).
PPC is still regularly cited by members as one of the most useful CPD resources BPCA produces. We also make PPC freely available to the whole sector. It’s not locked away, because we want it to be a window into BPCA, our members’ work and the professional standards this industry should be proud of.
But we’re not stuck in print. Now 123 issues in, PPC is probably BPCA’s longest-running communications channel. But around it we’ve built email bulletins, including PPC Now and CPD inspiration, social media, BPCA Digital and in-person Training Forums, and a WhatsApp community. We’re also working on BPCA Connect, our new online community exclusively for members.
We’re moving with the times, but there is still something special about producing something physical. Something that lands on your desk. Something that asks you to slow down for a moment. Something that doesn’t ping, flash, refresh or demand that you accept cookies before reading page two.
We might be a small sector, but we deserve something that takes time and effort to produce.
So please, take a moment with this issue. Pop the kettle on. Adjust the lighting. Break out the good biscuits.
And BPCA members, while you’re reading, think about what your page in PPC magazine might look like.
Our ambition for the next 123 issues is simple: more member stories, more voices, more useful ideas and more opportunities to share best practice across the sector.
It is your magazine, after all. Claim your page today.
Scott and Kat
PPC editors
hello@bpca.org.uk