Feature promotion | PPC88 September 2017

Earlier this year (on World Pest Day) we published our National Survey of local authorities as part of the worldwide campaign aimed to penetrate mainstream media, raising awareness of pest control generally, but also its influence on public health. 

Speed view

• Further drop in call-outs for local authorities
• Significant media coverage, which is still ongoing
• More research required in self-treatments

The report presented some hard-hitting headlines for the number of local authorities offering services, call-outs per 1,000 residents, and FTE staff numbers.
Despite a frantic media schedule for many newsrooms up and down the country in late Spring, with local government elections, the General Election and, of course, Brexit, the survey succeeded in reaching the public through a range of media.

Ben Massey, BPCA Marketing Manager said, We wanted to powerfully position the Association in the public space in order to demonstrate the professional capabilities of the membership. The project received a significant amount of attention, particularly in regions which were featured on the report.

With these type of activities, our message is always the same: BPCA members are here, and they are ready to help you. The association has delivered over £500,000 of Advertising Value Equivalent* in 2015 and in 2016 through public and trade media, and thanks to the impact of the survey’s report, we’re likely to break the barrier for the third year running.

*AVE refers to the cost of buying the space taken up by a particular article, had the article been an advertisement.

Headline findings

• Local authorities offering any pest control service dropped by 8% (317 to 292) in the year to March 2016 and decreased by 14% since 2011-12
• Full time staff employed by local authority pest control units dropped by 11% in the year to March 2016 and dropped by 24% since 2011-12.
• Local authorities providing a free service have decreased by almost 38% since 2011-12.
• 20% of local authorities offer no public pest control service – 9% fewer than 2011-12.
• Of 292 authorities still offering a public pest control service in 2016, only 20 (7%) do so free of charge – a drop of 16 (44%) from the previous year.
• Call-outs per head made by local authorities declined by 22% in the year to March 2016 and dropped by 33% since 2011-12.

How does the data compare to BPCA’s referral tool?

Building on the data from the report, BPCA applied its ‘Find a Pest Controller’ referral tool data as part of a poster presentation at the 2017 International Conference for Urban Pests (ICUP).
Despite the decreases in call-out rates for local authorities, BPCA referrals did not fill the void, but do represent a leading contributor.

The data speaks for itself. Yes, there is an ongoing decline in call-outs for local authorities and, yes, BPCA’s referrals increase year-on-year, (I’m sure capturing a significant number of those lost enquiries), but our concern is the gap remaining. Internet and print listings will contribute, as will, of course, direct calls into companies but we believe more research is required. We will now look to move onto the next iteration of the report, but with a particular interest in what is filling the void that is left with the declining call-outs from local authorities.

BPCA Chief Executive, Simon Forrester

Ben Massey
Marketing and Communications Manager

15 September 2017  |  PPC88

Source: PPC88