Cheid Exec viewpoint | PPC89 November 2017

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you will know I’m leaving BPCA and the sector early in 2018 to take up a role with the National Association of Jewellers. (In answer to the two most frequently asked questions, yes, I get trade discount and, no, I don’t get free samples!) Consequently, this is my final CE viewpoint and the last PPC magazine I’ll edit.

For over seven years I’ve led a team of fantastic individuals and I am proud to have achieved all we have done during that time. From the expansion of PestEx to the growth in membership numbers, the improvements in benefits, development of new standards and Codes of Best Practice, and our many victories against wayward regulators – we have done so much.

If I think back to the very first AGM I attended (before I’d even started the job) I remember being told that CPD would never take off, and BPCA’s push to make qualifications a requirement to practice wouldn’t stick. Unless I’m very much mistaken, these things have come to pass – and are now the norm.

Professionalising the sector was what drew me to the job – helping raise recognition for the excellent work done by pest control companies and their employees to keep people and their property safe. Every time a customer thinks of pest control they should be thinking ‘BPCA’ and understand what that means: qualified and up-to-date technicians supported by quality companies.

Right now we’re close to achieving this but there are a few more steps to go, steps that will be led by someone else. 

There is never a perfect time for this type of change, but now is the right time for BPCA, which is heading in a new and exciting direction supported by a fantastic staff team and passionate volunteers on our Executive Board, Committees and Forums.

My thanks and best wishes to them, and every BPCA Member, Affiliate and PPC reader. The future direction of this industry is in your hands.

Please continue to develop what we have built together.

Simon Forrester
Chief Executive

16 November 2017  |  PPC89

Source: PPC89