Berrow pest controller out to snare national title (From Burnham and Highbridge Weekly News)

Berrow pest controller out to snare national title

6:30pm Thursday 11th October 2012 in News

HIS job may not be the envy of the squeamish, but a pest controller from Berrow could soon be named the UK’s worker of the year – and win a £22,000 car.

Father-of-two Tom Edwards, 58, left the pharmaceutical industry around ten years ago to set up in business as a pest controller.

Tom runs his own firm, GTC Services, and earlier this year, a customer encouraged him to enter the UK Worker of the Year awards, sponsored by Dickies and Seat.

From almost 3,000 entries across the UK, Tom has been chosen as one of six finalists, and could win a Seat Exeo or a holiday.

He told the Weekly News: “I sent off my form and didn’t think any more of it until I was told that I was one of the finalists.

“I then went down to Pinewood Studios, where I was interviewed by a panel of five judges, including the TV presenter Quentin Wil-son. Just like a job interview, you’re never quite sure how you’ve done but I hope I made a good impression.

“I’ll find out on November 2.”

Although his job is to remove pests from homes and workplaces – and to kill them when necessary – Tom is very much an animal-lover.

He said: “Most pest controllers love animals. My wife and I had a golden retriever but it recently died.

“Obviously, the nat-ure of the job means sometimes you do have to kill animals but most of the time it’s about moving them away from the home to where they are no longer a problem.”

Asked what he thought made him a good worker, Tom said: “I do get on well with customers.

Everybody goes on about customer care but I believe it’s important to be friendly and to listen to people.

“It would be great to get a new car – it would certainly be an improvement on my current one – but it would also be nice to get the recognition.”