A Family Affair

An entrepreneur has turned his back on a career in hydraulic engineering to drive rats, cockroaches, wasps and other pests out of the region.

The recession appears to have had no effect on the amount of unwanted creatures invading homes and businesses and reports of high numbers of infestations was enough to persuade Dave Christie to take the plunge.

Mr Christie, from Wallsend, is now operating his business, Saxon Environmental Services, throughout the North East and the Scottish Borders, with his wife Karen. He said: "I've always been interested in environmental issues and I thought that this was a good year to take the plunge. After working as a hydraulic engineer in Newcastle for three and a half years, I felt the time was right to make a career change, and to have the flexibility of running my own company."

The family had been considering moving to France, but with a teenage son still at school, they decided against that idea. Mr Christie said: "I always wanted to be my own boss and the time was right, so I just bit the bullet. It's still a challenging economic climate, but that definitely doesn't stop pests invading homes and businesses. Both rural and urban areas throughout the North East are constantly at risk of infestations."

Spring is traditionally the start of the busy season in the pest control world. A recent report found a single train compartment contained 1,000 cockroaches, 200 bed bugs, 200 fleas, 500 dust mites and 100 carpet beetles.

And recent estimates put the national rat population at between 60 million and 100 million and climbing. Rats can produce litters of up to 10 young, 10 times a year and spring is their busiest breeding season.

Mr Christie added: "Though we may be welcoming the spring weather, milder temperatures mean that pests are now emerging from hibernation. We really take pride in our work and use the most up-to-date information and technology to solve each problem in the most humane, cost effective way possible. We also offer a free, no-obligation consultation, so if people have any concerns, now is an ideal time to get their home or business checked out."

Mr Christie worked with Business Link, which was able to secure half the start-up funding he needed and helped pay for training and certification.

He is already starting to think about his next business. "We are concentrating on pest control now, then we want to move into deep cleansing of industrial kitchens," he said.

Article provided by Saxon Environmental Services