In April this year we carried out work for a construction company in Manchester.  The work required us to clean 5 derelict houses of pigeon droppings, where birds had been living for the past 20 years. 

Pigeons had gained access to the properties through holes in the roof and loft spaces.  Top floor areas contained pigeon fouling up to 12″ deep, together with remains of birds and nesting materials. 

The ceilings had to be pulled down and all debris removed followed by a disinfectant spray to make the area safe for contractors to carry out work.  The work was completed over a 10 day period.

Our Gardenbusters division has recently carried out large scale treeworks to remove dead and dying trees/tree limbs within a residential area of Bromsgrove, in order to make safe and protect the health and safety of residents, general public and nearby properties.

The work, which was completed over a one week period, was organised such that all felling/pruning was carried out on a Saturday, in order to minimise any health and safety risks to the general public.  All working areas were cordoned off for safety of the public, and ‘look-out’ ground staff were also put in place, to help prevent any unauthorised access to the working area.

A variety of trees were worked on, including a Scots Pine that was hanging over a public car park, which a ‘two man team’ brought down in sections.  A large dangerous limb was removed from a Beech tree and a Silver Birch was also pruned.  We were also requested to pollard a Lime tree which had been previously badly pruned. The debris from these trees was then removed over the following five days.

Pestbusters celebrated 10 years in business this month and Managing Director Dave Nash organised a staff Team building day which was followed by a Go Karting event.

The team building involved exercises which were organised by Kevin Parr of the PGS Team Ltd, together with ex Royal Marine Rob Bull from Extreme Evolution.   After some initial trepidation everyone relaxed into the exercises and good team camaraderie was enjoyed by all.

The Go Karting  event was great fun and finished with a Winners Race which was hard fought but eventually won by our Pestbusters Service Supervisor Mike Nash, closely followed by Jason Harris from our Gardenbusters Tree Surgery Team.  Third place went to Pestbusters Service Technician Keith Colwell. 

At the celebrations after the event Darren Brough our General Manager presented Dave with a caricature painting of himself with his dog Jimmy on behalf of all The Busters Team staff, in recognition not only of his own personal achievement, in building Pestbusters into the successful company that it is today, but also as a big ‘thank you’ for his care and commitment to the personal development of all his employees.

Pestbusters now look forward to another successful 10 years in business as it continues to expand along with Gardenbusters, Hygienebusters & Total Bird Control.

In January we carried out a job to remove pigeon nests and eggs from under the eaves of the roof on a building in Solihull.  We then installed 9m x 4m of black pigeon netting to the roof using a mobile working platform in order to stop the pigeons from nesting and roosting in this area.

DARREN BROUGH our Health, Safety & Operations Manager has been awarded the ‘Individual Category’ 2010 UK NATIONAL TRAINING AWARD for the West Midlands Region.

The National Training Awards recognises training, learning and development as a route to achieving outstanding organisational and personal success. Winning an Award provides a benchmark for standards of excellence in training throughout the  UK and is a recognition of best practice and personal progression.

The Busters Group offers a wide range of services. This is our Gardenbusters Manager climbing trees in the lowest of temperatures we have seen for a while! 03/12/2010

Darren Brough our Health, Safety & Operations Manager has been honoured with two prestigious National Training Awards in recognition of his outstanding contribution and commitment to training, learning and development in the workplace.

He was presented with both a Regional National Training Award and a UK National Training Award at the West Midlands Regional Ceremony, held at Birmingham Town Hall on 21st October. He was recognised in the Individual Award category.

Run on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) by UK Skills, the National Training Awards inspires and encourages UK industry to invest in training and development as a route to achieving outstanding organisational and individual success. Winning an Award is recognition of best practice and provides a benchmark for standards of excellence in training in the UK. City and Guilds is the premier sponsor of the 2010 National Training Awards.

Darren will now be invited to the National Training Awards 2010 UK Ceremony, being held in London on Wednesday 1st December. At the ceremony, UK winners will find out whether or not they have won the overall Winner of the Year Award for their category. They will be up against all the other UK Winners from across the UK in competition for these top awards.

Simon Bartley, Chief Executive of UK Skills which manages the National Training Awards said: “I would like to offer congratulations to all regional and UK winners for the National Training Awards 2010. Achieving an award is a fantastic achievement and one that all winners should be really proud of. Now more than ever it is essential for organisations to continue to invest in the development of their staff. The UK’s future, after all, can only be strengthened and sustained by people who have the skills needed to meet the demands of today’s globalised economy.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhpzLFhmXM4

http://www.warwickcourier.co.uk/news/local/award_winner_sets_an_example_1_1810419

For more information please visit www.nationaltrainingawards.com

For more information regarding Bedbugs please see our link or contact our office on 08000 35 1000.

http://www.midlandsbusinessnews.co.uk/2010-10/leisure-industry-failing-to-deal-sufficiently-with-bed-bug-scourge-claims-midlands-expert.aspx

This property had been vacant for many years and at some point a small window at the front of the building had become broken.  This provided an access point into the building for pigeons.  The building had also previously sustained a leak in the roof, which resulted in the ceiling becoming damaged and provided pigeons with a place to roost.  Over time other parts of the ceiling had also become damaged, which resulted in the property becoming littered with pigeon droppings and nesting materials. 

Due to problems with the pigeons, a decision was made to remove the ceilings and debris in one go.  A full disinfectant spray was carried out prior to the work taking place, thus ensuring a safe working environment for our trained staff to carry out the required work.  The ceiling was then removed and all exposed droppings, nesting materials and waste was removed and disposed of via sealed skips for Health & Safety reasons. 

In June we carried out a biocidal disinfectant spray treatment and removed bulk pigeon fouling and contaminates from balconies (including eggs, nests, droppings and chicks).  This helped to maintain a safe working environment for building contractors who were working on site carrying out essential maintenance.  A further disinfectant spray was carried out when all contaminates had been removed.

This was followed by the supply and installation of a 50 metre x 3 metre white sparrow net, to the light well area of the flats via the use of scaffolding.