Blog

Keeping care homes pest-free

I was just flicking through my Facebook feed when I came across the heart-warming story of a miniature Shetland pony visiting residents in a care home. The pony, Milo, is a therapy animal, meaning he visits…

Be careful what you bring home from holiday

We’ve noticed a worrying trend in the last year – the rise of the bed bug. Comparing the same periods in 2021 and 2022, we have seen a 24.6% increase in callouts for bed bug treatments. This is a worrying…

Sending out the right message

If you saw a pest control van outside of a restaurant, what would you think? Would you think? “I won’t go there because they have a pest problem!” “I will go there because they obviously take pest control…

Whatever your gender, pest control is a great career choice

This month we hear from Deborah Boulton, who works for Des Bone, part of the Cleankill family, about how she got into pest control and why she thinks this is a great career, no matter what your gender is!…

Surveying with Mark

Following on from our recent blogs – The Power of Insights and Bird Control: Falconry and Proofing – we hear from Vickie as she spends a day with surveyor Mark Hobbs. Here’s what she saw…and smelt! What I can…

Why I took part in the South Coast Mighty Hike in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support

By Louise Newman The simple answer is that I am a lucky cancer survivor! And we are off!In 2015, I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Breast Cancer. This was, by far, the scariest moment of my life and the…

Bird control: falconry and proofing

Samantha has been with Cleankill since June 2017, starting as a service administrator and then progressing to senior administrator and now administration supervisor. She oversees the team, ensuring requests…

The Power of Insights – walk (a few) miles in my shoes

Whoever first said, “you can’t understand someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes,” is now long since been forgotten, but those words are quoted, requoted, misquoted and paraphrased all the time. Why…

Are you cyber-secure?

A few years ago, we were expecting an invoice to be paid and the money never turned up in our account. This was surprising because the payee was reputable and could always be relied upon to pay on time. What…

Are you getting what you pay for?

A few years ago I wrote a blog in which I told the story of how I was driving to a business luncheon with the Sutton United Business Club and I saw a sign offering wasps’ nest removal for £35. At the time I…

Being green: small things make a big difference

Sustainability is a lot more than just a trendy term businesses use to look caring. In my opinion, too many companies make statements about being green but can’t back them up. This ‘greenwashing’ must stop. We…

Your 2022 resolutions for pest control

The dawning of a new year is a time when many of us reflect on what has been and what will be. Resolutions are a great way to focus the mind on what we would like to do better, and that can include pest…

Why being green matters?

With the conclusion of COP26 in Glasgow and the furore surrounding sewage discharge into UK rivers, the environment is certainly making headline news at the moment.  As a company, sustainability and our impact…

Can you afford to fail at preventive pest control?

It has certainly been quite a week. As I was heading home to write this very blog someone crashed their motorbike in front of me. They were thrown across the bonnet of my car, smashing their head into my…

Be bold and succeed in business

Cleankill recently reached a milestone – we took on our 50th employee – something of which I’m really proud.  That’s not the only milestone we’ve reached in the last few months as, in April, our contract…

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a Cockchafer

May was certainly a strange month. Last year, as we all went into Lockdown 1.0, the weather was glorious and everyone turned to the barbecue. This year the story was very different, with Spring 2021 being one…

Restaurants: Don’t Close Before You Reopen

In recent weeks, we’ve published several articles, blogs and social media posts reminding businesses about the importance of remembering preventive pest control when getting ready to reopen. This week, one…

Never Stop Training

I’m pleased to report we recently retained our Gold Investors in People Award following an exhaustive audit. We were the first English pest control company to receive gold certification, in 2018. It’s…

Surviving as a Rat

“Now, I’m a simple creature. I don’t want much from life, just somewhere safe to sleep, a little bit of warmth and, of course, access to water and food. Even when it comes to food, I’m not that fussy. Whatever…

What do you know about wasps?

We’ve just posted two stories about wasps on our social media sites and what is interesting is that, while one conforms to our stereotypical image of the wasp, the second article completely goes against our…