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Featured Guest Interview: Interview with Pest Management Professional David Cain
by Paul Bello

David Cain, Managing Director Bed Bugs Limited
Unit 30 Sleaford Street
Industrial Eastate, Sleaford Street
London, SW8 5AB
Tel +44 20 7720 6468
[email protected]

A t BBG we�re committed to presenting current, practical and useful information to our readers. In our first guest interview installment we chatted with David Cain, Managing Director of Bed Bug Limited. Based in London, David takes pride in being the world�s first firm dedicated bed bug service company and has been at the front lines of the great bed bug battle since 2002. Having worked his first bed bug job in 2002, David has extensive experience in dealing with bed bugs on a daily basis. We had several questions for David and are pleased to present his responses below.

BBG: Please share with our readers a brief description of where in the world you work and the type of business you are involved in?

David Cain: My business is based in central London a few miles from Buckingham Palace and the major tourist attractions and although 95% of our work is local (within the M25 outer orbital) I am often called on to visit cases at all four corners of the country although I prefer to limit my driving to a 400 mile radius. Most of the out of town work is repairing the damage of previous treatments but I have always loved a good challenge.

BBG: How long have you been in the bed bug industry?

David Cain: In 2005 I started the world�s first dedicated bedbug extermination firm following in the footsteps of Tiffin & Son who operated between 1650 and the 1930�s. Prior to that I spent many years as a general pest controller but due to the management of the company I got 95% of their bedbug work because the boss felt it most appropriate to send the science grad out on the nasty jobs.

BBG: What got you interested and started in the BB industry?

David Cain: I first became hooked on bedbugs in 2002, it was actually the first pest control job I was taken and trained on, oddly enough by my older brother who is an environmental health officer in London. I was fascinated by this pest which in those days was considered rare and highly unusual. Over the following years incidents increased at an exponential rate and soon I was tasked with 8 cases of bedbugs per day.

BBG: What types of accounts do you service the most?

David Cain: Most of our clients are private domestic properties although we also look after one of the UK�s largest social landlords with over 27,500 properties. Increasingly we are being asked to design and implement Pro-Active bedbug detection and management systems for Hotels based on a system that facilitates early detection through the use of passive monitors.

BBG: Compared to 2010, is your bed bug work this year increased, decreased or about the same?

David Cain: Despite the difficult economic conditions the level of work has increased by about 25% between 2010 and 2011 and although December is usually a quieter month we have actually had to take on extra staff and are working to capacity.

BBG: Do you think bed bug work will continue to increase, decrease or stay about the same over the next five years and, if so, why?

David Cain: Without a widespread public education exercise which does not seem likely at this stage I am very confident that he level of work will increase over the next 5 years as bedbugs continue to spread and more and more people come into contact with them. In the case of London we are about to host the Olympic Games and as Sydney found out a years� worth of tourism in 8 weeks tends to result in a years� worth of bedbugs. We have already cancelled all leave and are putting plans in place to increase capacity so that we are able to react to the public and commercial needs.

BBG: What do you think are some of the most important recent developments in the bed bug arena?

David Cain: Although I am biased (as the inventor) I think one of my three key developments has been the passive monitor (BB Alert Active), increasingly we are using them not only for early detection but as an adjunct to our treatment processes. Although the systems have not been widely released yet we have started using a combination of super-heated steam and a different formulation of DE which has allowed us to clear even advanced hotel infestations in a matter of hours with little or no room down time.

BBG: Are bed bugs a common problem in your area?

David Cain: Yes bedbugs are clearly an increasingly common issue in London, we have now treated over 21,000 cases and estimate that maybe as many as 1% of all homes in London are currently infested. This is short of the 1930�s level where one third of all homes were infested but with the rates of increase that we have been seeing it�s only a matter of time unless steps are taken.

BBG: Where do you think the BB industry is headed?

David Cain: Although I know not everyone shares this view with me I feel the industry is heading rapidly towards more focused and strategic control rather than the carpet bombing which is common today. I think others will learn to deal with each case on its own merits and not to fall into the protocol based pitfalls which often result in process failure.

BBG: While we seem to hear about severely infested bed bug accounts, what are the levels of infestation you typically find at most accounts your company services?

David Cain: There is really no typical infestation as far as we are concerned. I see as many single bed bugs in locations as I do high density buildings with 60%+ infested units. The worst we encountered was an estimated 150,000 bedbugs in a single bedroom apartment occupied by a hoarder whose collection was about 30 years old. We have learned to evaluate each case on its own merits and interestingly enough sometimes the low level and elusive infestations prove to be the hardest to resolve.

BBG: What other BB related information would you like to share with the readers of BBG?

David Cain: Most of all I would like to encourage others to be as specialized as we have become, the rewards are certainly there, I have staff who can reliably smell an individual bedbug in a room and will hunt until they find it. Although some say this is not possible I am personal proof that if you spend long enough perfecting your skills it�s amazing what a person can do if you get out there focus and learn through observation and analysis of what you see. Most of all however our motto around here is challenge everything unless you see it with your own eyes.

Thanks David, we appreciate you sharing your industry insights with the growing Bed Bug General army.

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