PPC121 | MEET THE MEMBER

Somerset-based pest controller Matthew Arnold, owner of Squeak-a-boo Pest Control, talked to PPC magazine about career changes, award recognition and stumbling upon opportunities.

A winding path to pest control

Matthew’s path into pest management is anything but typical. “I’ve kind of stumbled from one thing to another all my life,” he admits with a laugh. “I’ve fallen into some amazing jobs completely by accident.”

He left school and took his first job in a battery factory, welding together industrial cells for mining equipment. “It was very hands-on,” he says. “We were literally making huge sticks of AA batteries to fit down boreholes.” 

When an offer came to train as a lecturer, Matthew found himself weighing that against two other options: gas engineering or the army. “I sort of joined the army by mistake,” he jokes. “And then totally by accident somehow passed the selection tests for the Intelligence Corps.”

That “mistake” led to a decade-long military career, full of specialist intelligence roles that honed his problem-solving instincts. “It was never the plan, but I loved it,” he recalls. “You learn how to think strategically; how to analyse, assess risk, and work under pressure. All skills that, funny enough, translate well to pest control.”

From military intelligence to digital defence

When his first child was born, Matthew decided to leave the forces, but not before another twist of fate. “I had a phone call that turned out to be a job interview, though I didn’t realise it at the time,” he laughs. 

“I was sitting in the car with a laptop, Googling the company while they were asking me questions.” The impromptu interview landed him a consulting role, and soon he was immersed in the world of cybersecurity.

Over the next decade, Matthew’s projects spanned defence and finance, from nuclear submarine systems to digital banking apps.

“One of my first jobs was doing cybersecurity accreditation for submarines,” he says. “Then I moved into financial services, where I helped design the security accreditation criteria for Open Banking - you know when your app lets you see all your other bank accounts in one place? That was my team.”

The work was high-stakes and highly technical, blending engineering discipline with creative thinking. “It taught me to look at systems; not just machines, but human behaviour, too,” he says. “If you understand how a system functions, you can figure out where to intervene. That’s the same logic I use now in pest control.”

Systems, strategy – and rodents

Matthew’s fascination with systems thinking even predates his pest career. He recalls watching a TED Talk about eradicating mosquitoes: 

“The speaker described mosquito control as a system - breeding, feeding, transmitting - and said if you can break one part of that cycle, you solve the problem. That clicked for me. It’s the same thinking behind cybersecurity or counterterrorism work. And as it turns out, pest management.”

That analytical mindset now shapes Squeak-a-boo’s approach. “A rat has to nest, feed, and travel,” he explains. 

“If I can disrupt one of those needs - deny it food, block its access, or break its breeding cycle - I’ve broken the system. The subject matter changes, but the method stays the same.”

From hobby to livelihood

Matthew’s pivot to pest control began innocently enough, during the Covid-19 lockdowns of 2020. “I was shooting to help neighbours with rats and rabbits, just doing it for free,” he says. 

“I started watching BPCA videos, reading guides, and thought, maybe I should do the RSPH Level 2 Award.”

Bit by bit, the hobby became a side hustle. “I set up a website and started charging a bit, just to cover costs,” he says. 

“Then it snowballed. I’d reduced my consulting work to three days a week, but was still working seven days overall. One morning I woke up and thought, that’s it: I’m going all in.”

By early 2024, Matthew had left consulting entirely to run Squeak-a-boo full-time. Since then, he’s picked up two major awards; Sole Trader of the Year at the National Pest Awards and the Somerset Business Start-up of the Year. 

“It’s been wild,” he says. “But I’m proud of how far it’s come.”

When asked what he attributes part of that success to, Matt says it’s all about how you write your entry. 

“Alex Wade said once: write your award entries like you’re American,” he says. “We’re British, so we’re not good at saying we’re great at something, we’re a bit too reserved. But if you can back up your entry with evidence, like quotes, data, pictures, that’s what gets noticed.”

That philosophy paid off. “At the Somerset Business Awards, people were saying they’d applied every year for the awards and never won. I just told them: it's part luck; it's mostly how you tell your story.”

Empathy as a tool of the trade

Despite his background in analysis and risk, Matthew sees pest control as fundamentally a people business. “It’s a crisis industry,” he says. “When someone calls, they’re often scared; they just want to hear that everything’s going to be OK.”

He’s had calls at two in the morning from anxious customers worried about rats in the walls. “You’ve got to be part problem-solver, part therapist,” he says. “Sometimes people don’t need you to act - they just need reassurance.”

That empathy extends beyond clients to the pest control community itself. 

“When I started, I’d ring pest controllers across the country just for advice,” he says. “They’d talk for an hour because most of us work alone. That sense of openness and community is something special in this trade.”

Innovation on the ground

Matthew is quick to apply his problem-solving instincts to fieldwork too. One unusual technique he’s become known for is vacuuming out ground wasp nests instead of relying solely on chemical treatments.

“I wasn’t sure how safe it was to put insecticide into the soil,” he says. “So I started vacuuming the nests out first. You get most of the wasps before you even open the nest, and sometimes you don’t need chemicals at all.”

He laughs that it came from uncertainty, not genius. “I just didn’t know the ‘proper’ way, so I tried something new. Now I see more people doing it. That’s how this industry evolves - through shared ideas and a bit of curiosity.”

Being a sole trader gives him the flexibility to experiment and to look after his customers. “If someone’s struggling, maybe elderly or on low income, I can adapt. Split payments, discounts, or even just free advice. You have that freedom to be decent.”

Matthew also donates a percentage of Squeak-a-boo’s turnover to Somerset’s Village Agents Crisis Fund, which supports vulnerable residents facing hardship.

“You see people really struggling,” he says. “Sometimes they just need someone to fix a small problem, or to show them how to manage something. It feels right to help.”

Looking ahead

Although Squeak-a-boo is currently a one-man operation, Matthew’s plans are expanding. “I’d like to grow to maybe five people,” he says. “I want to build something to hand over to my children one day. I want this to outlast me.”

He’s also keen to keep contributing to the profession. As a member of BPCA’s WildWise group, Matthew has written guidance on night shooting and other technical topics. 

“It’s not about taking control; it’s about supporting the industry,” he says. “BPCA does a lot behind the scenes that people don’t see; engaging with the government, setting standards, producing technical content. I couldn’t have started without their resources, so it feels right to give something back.”

From welding batteries to securing nuclear systems to chasing rats across Somerset, Matthew’s career has been defined by one trait: curiosity. “I’ve always been the kind of person who says yes and figures it out later,” he says. “That’s served me pretty well so far.”

For him, pest control brings together everything he’s learned - investigation, systems thinking, technical problem-solving, and empathy. “If you can break the cycle, you can fix the problem,” he says. “That’s true for rats, cybersecurity, or life in general.”

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