'The top ten ways pests can affect your bottom line' is a blog about pests costing UK business money

1. An original blogbyDanGaskin,AcclaimEnvironmental–07989 422469.
The Top 10 ways pests can affect your Company’s bottom line.
1. Illness:
Accordingto Galluppolls, 131 milliondayswere lostdue tosicknessabsencesinthe UKin
2013.
So what?
What doesthishave to do withpestsinthe building?
The publichealthindustryoftengoonaboutall the terrible diseasesthatyou could catch
frompestsbut more oftenthannot,you don’tgetthese. That’snot tosay it doesn’thappen
but the illnessesthatare more commonlyspreadare non-lethal flu-likeillnesseswhereyour
staff have to have a fewdaysoff or stay at work feelingawful.Rodentsare particularlygood
at spreadingthese illnesses.Basically,if youthinkyoumighthave mice andyourteamare
startingto become unwell anditbecomesclearthat‘somethingisgoinground, you’ll be
losingmoneythroughall the hiddencostsof lostcapacity,hiddenHRcosts includingreturn
to workinterviews,cleaningcosts andmissedopportunities.

2. An original blogbyDanGaskin,AcclaimEnvironmental–07989 422469.
2. Damage to property:
Thisis a ‘biggy’– accordingto a Guardian article, if you’re tryingtosell yourhouse andthe
prospective buyersnotice evidence of arodentinfestation,if theywanttobuy,theywill
negotiate an average,a9% reductioninaskingprice – equivalenttoalmost£22,000 off the
average askingprice fora UK property!
We workedwithaNursingHome manyyearsago in Northamptonthathadsquirrelsinthe
loft.Basicallyitwasa case of too little toolate.The costof damage to plumbing,electrics,
roof timbersran intotensof thousandsof pounds.Inthe end,roof hadto be replacedand
because theirinsurance didn’tcoverpestactivity,theyhadtocall inadministratorsand
declare bankruptcy.A companyturningovera 7 sevenfigure sumwentto the wall because
theyhadn’tinstalledmeasurescostingafew hundredpoundswhentheyfirstsaw the
problem.
Oh,and I haven’tevenmentionedthe amountof firesrodentsstarteveryyearonfarms:
20%. 20% of whatI hear youasking…well20% of the 1700 farm buildingsand66000 areasof
grasslandthat are destroyedby fire everyyear.
That is 340 buildingsperyear.Average costof a barn?Anyone? Iguessit’smore than a
tenner?Anythingfor£5000 for a tiny‘kit’barn upto…well, waypast£100,000 + insurance
costs,legal costs,productivitycosts,stockcostsand onand on.
3. Damage to stock:
200 rats are able toconsume nearly1,100kg of feedina year. Ok,so I can hear yousaying
that the price of wheatisonly(atthe time of typing) £120/ton. That’snot so badis it,Dan?
Well, today wheatisgrownon about2,000,000 hectareswitha value of about£1.2 billion.
There isa lotof real estate forthento go at. Alongside the threattheypose tofeedstocks,
theyalsocarry infectiousdiseasessuchasLeptospirosis(Weil’sdisease) whichisspread
throughinfectedraturine,andisa veryserioushealthrisktothose whoworkonthe farm.
Theycan also carry disease fromunittounit,whensearchingfornestingsitesandfood
sources.The estimatedcosttoUK farmersfromrodentdamage is up to £25 millionevery
year.Margins can be extremelytightforfarmersand aseriousrodentinfestationcanbe the
difference betweenbreakevenornot.A Grain shipmentonlyhastohave the slightestsign
of rodentdamage forit to be busteddownfrom‘forhumanconsumption’to‘animal feed’
or simplyrejectedcompletely.
Haulage costs,lostopportunitycosts,time costs,labourcosts,wearandtear of machinery,
seedcosts,cost of buyingharvesters,tractorsetc. A serious amountof filthylucre.
4. Damage to Reputation:
The UK isquite straight-lacedwhenitcomestopests beingseeninbusinesspremises.In
Australiaandthe US, thingscan be a little more relaxeddue tothe climate but,ina nutshell,
a clientseeingapestinyourUK premises canruinyourbusinessovernight…oratleastas

3. An original blogbyDanGaskin,AcclaimEnvironmental–07989 422469.
fastas ittakesto get roundsocial mediathese days.Occasionallythe local mediawill report
on food business thathave,shall we say, notexactlymade pestcontrol apriority.So,
thousandsof paperreportsgo intocirculationaswell asan electronicpresenceappearing
aboutyour businessthatcanNEVER be erased.The falloutof lossof businesscanbe
catastrophic. Most regional restaurants,hotelsandotherfoodbusinesses relyonthe new
wordof mouththat the internetprovidesandTripAdvisorandsimilartestimonialsiteswill
instantlypassthe badnewsaround.How muchbusinessdoyouthinkyouwouldlose if one
of yourprospectsor clientssawa rat inyour premises?Whatif itwasjust one clientthat
youlost?How much dotheyspendeveryyear?Take that numberandmultiply itby25
(average clientlifetime) andthenmultiplythatby100 (average numberof people they
know).
I’mguessingthat’sa large number?Soisit worthriskinga cockroach infestation?Orfleas?
5. Your top talent leaving.
I’ve seencompanies whosay theypride themselveson‘lookingafterourstaff’lose their
apparentlybelovedemployees becausethey justcouldn’tbearbeinginthe buildingany
longer. Itmainlyhappenswhenthere are fleasinabuildingbutwe didonce see itinoffices
on a farm.
Bluntly,yourtopemployeesare yourmoneyearnersandtheyknow it.Theyalsoknow that
theirskillsare equallyuseful tothe competitionandif youcan’t be botheredtokeeppests
out of the building,they’ll gosomewhereelse.A friendof mine whoworksasa salestrainer
saysthat the cost of hiringthe wrongpersoncan make or breakan organisationif theyturn
out to be a ‘wronghire’.
A reportcarriedout by OxfordEconomics revealsthatreplacingmembersof staff incurs
significantcostsforemployers:£30,614 peremployee onaverage.Thisincludesopportunity
costs,trainingcosts,time costs etc.,etc. Also,yousalesstaff are those whobringthe money
in.If yourtop performerlefttomorrow,whatpotentialdealshashe/shejusttakentoyour
competition…becausetheygotbittenbyaflea?£1000? £10,000? £100,000? £1 million?
6. LosingIndustryAccreditations
You may or may notknowthat BRC Accreditationisall butmandatoryif youwant to be
consideredaseriousplayerinthe foodindustryorits relatedsupplychain.Ionce hada
facilitiesmanagersaytheyneededtoputsome insectmonitorsputin.Nothingsovery
strange aboutthat. In fact,that is fairlycommon.They’re relativelycheapforthis£1.3 billion
company.I startedto ask whatwouldhappenif we didn’tputinthe 80p monitors.
Client:Well,we couldloseouraccreditationwithBRC!
Me: Meaning?
Client:Meaning,Dan,thatwe’dlose ourcontracts with(insert3veryfamousfoodbrands)!

4. An original blogbyDanGaskin,AcclaimEnvironmental–07989 422469.
Me: Whichwouldcost?
Client:About£5 milliona year in additionto redundancy packages to half our staff at this
plant. Oh, and the dormant multi-£millionmachineryofcourse and etc., etc.
Accreditationscanmake or breaka businessandif auditorssee pestsinyourcompany,they
can and will remove youraccreditationtoprotectthe ‘endusers’inthe supplychain.
7. Trying to solve it yourself.
The average spendis£500 withwastedtime,financialoutlayand furtherpestdamage
incurred duringthe time thatyou’re tryingto fix the problemyourself.Youare also,I’m
guessing,notapestcontrol expert.Youmay run a successful ITcompany,manufacturing
businessornursery,butI’mwillingtoguessyoudon’thave yourRSPHLevel 2 inPest
Control?The time you’ve spent(note thatword) tryingtofix yourproblemwouldsurely
have beenbetterspentfocusingonyourownbusiness.Youmayhave missedacrucial deal
or opportunitywhileyouwere tryingtokill bedbugs,bookliceorsquirrels.It’salsorare for
over-the-countertreatmentstocompletelycure yourproblem. Andthere youwere thinking
that youwere savingmoney.
8. Potential legal action against your business.
How muchwoulditcost you to close yourfoodbusinessorfoodsupplychainbusinessfor
one day? I don’tmeanfora weekend.Imeaninthe middle of the week –because a
CharteredInstitute of EnvironmentalHealthOfficer (EHO) hasservedaclosure notice on
your business.I’mguessingthatfigure ishighorat leasthigherthatyou’dbe happyto
accept.
What wouldhappenif itescalatesandyourcompanyeithergetssuedortakento court for
infractionof relevanthygienelegislation?The finesmaybe relativelysmall forafirstoffence
but the falloutwill be huge.There iscompensationtobe paidto anyone becoming ill. There
are legal costsinadditiontothe fine.Evenif yousettle outof court,you’re still goingtohave
to pay some moneytosettle. Thenthere are the ramificationssetoutinpoint4 above.
However,we’re gettingaheadof ourselves;itrarelygetstothat level andthe EHO will
normallyjustserve a24 or 48 hourclosure notice inorderforyou to getthe problemsorted
out.So, howmuch woulditcost youinlostbusinessandthose countermeasuresthatyou
still haven’timplemented?
9. Low morale and worry
‘I likedworkinghereuntil the ratcame in.Now I justpanic all the time’Isometimeshearthis
sort of comment.If you workedsomewhere where pestswere inthe building,how would
youfeel?It’sa fact thatwe’re lessproductive whenwe’re stressedoutorour morale islow.
We can’t focus,we hate our jobsat that momentandwe turn out substandardwork.It’s

5. An original blogbyDanGaskin,AcclaimEnvironmental–07989 422469.
estimatedthatthe UK economyloses £29 billionperyeardue tolow morale anddissatisfied
employees.If yourteamisworkingbelow pardue tothe presence of pestspecies,how
much more effectivedoyouthinkthey’dbe if theyhada clean,safe workingenvironment?
How muchmore wouldtheyaddtoyour bottom line?How muchare youlosingbecause
they’re unmotivatedandskivingoff? How muchof that £29 billionare youmissingouton.
10. Other contractors refusingto work with you
We getthisa lot! Plumbers,electricians,builders,roofers,airconditioningengineers,telecoms
engineers,decorators…I’ve hadthenall be the reasonwhya prospecthascalledusto have
somethingremoved. A personturnsuponsite and will refuse tocarryout theirworkas the site
iseitherunclean(vermin) orunsafe (wasps,bees, hornets).Tobe honest,it’shardto blame
them.Wouldyougo intoa space withanactive wasp nestor a small areasthat reeksof rodent
urine?No,andneithershouldthey.The problemisthoughisthat,if they’re acompanywithself-
respect,they’ll have chargedyouacallout.Andstill notdone anything.They’llthenhave to
charge youagainif theycome out.It can all start to add up if your propertyhaspestproblems.
If anythinginthisblogstrikesa chord or if you’re worryingorunsure aboutwhatto do, whynot
call us to discusswhetheritmakessense tolookatyourproblems. Call uson0800 092 5259 or
07989 422469 or whynotvisitus at www.acclaimpest.co.uk.Youcan alsoemail me at
dan@acclaimpest.co.uk