Barry Phillips rentokil.co.uk

I am a local Surveyor for Rentokil Pest Control covering Central and NW London and am now into my 5th year with the company. (Ed note: Barry left Rentokil in August 2011 – we wish him luck and expect some future guest posts from him)

Previously I worked in the industry as a technician for a family run Pest Control Business in Hertfordshire. Though small, they had several big clients to service including Tilbury Dock Yards where a routine visit took 2 days, part of which involved checking 400 snap traps set up around the port, to catch Black Rats coming in off the ships. This was only one of three known sites in the UK to have this pest.

Prior to pest control I was a head chef and then a recruitment manager for the hospitality industry. This was followed by a stint at Holloway Woman’s Prison as a Catering Officer, training inmates how to cook porridge (amongst other culinary delights).

I decided that after 15 years of creating food sources for vermin around the UK, it was only right that I came back to clear up my mess and therefore joined The Pest Control Industry
I am currently part of the Training Team for the Rentokil Academy where I assist trainee surveyors with their initial training and ongoing development.

Outside of work I am a keen but average golfer and when not throwing tantrums on the fairways of Hertfordshire, I am attempting to finish my comedy scripts, which I have been writing on and off for years, to no avail. This time next year Rodney…..!

What Lies Beneath

Barry for rentokil.co.uk | November 11, 2009
They say you are never more than a few metres from a rat these days. I recently had the displeasure of proving this fact to a client in a most shocking way. In 10 years within the industry I thought I had seen most things and I am therefore not easily shocked. However, during a [...]

German Cockroaches – As German As The London Bus

Barry for rentokil.co.uk | November 5, 2009
They may or may not survive a Nuclear War, but process in which The German Cockroach and its pals gained their names, quite possibly is the saviour of Civilisation as we know it!! A bold statement by all means, but read on dear guest as you may just gain respect for these tiny pests. There [...]

Noisy Fly Killers With Bits Of Burnt Insects?

Barry for rentokil.co.uk | October 6, 2009
The use of sticky boards and films are so common and more to the point enhanced, that when you see (as I did recently), a large electric fly killer machine in a kitchen, above a food prep surface, with large dead blue bottles (flies), moths and many many other insects stuck to the grid, burnt [...]

Did You Know Textile Pests Are Associated With Pigeons?

Barry for rentokil.co.uk | September 25, 2009
Reading the bird control blog post got me thinking… Not wishing to kick the good old Pigeon whilst its down, but other more subtle risks associated with Pigeons and other pest birds, is the fact that they are the major source of most Textile Pests and Stored Product Insects. Insects in the textile category include, [...]