Installer of the Month October 2026 | Elite Pest Solutions

A familiar face is back in the winner’s spotlight! Huge congratulations to Chris Church of Elite Pest Solutions, our Defender® Installer of the Month for October 2026. The task of choosing our winner fell to guest judge Gareth Davies of Pest and Property Solutions. With so many excellent entries to look through, he had some tough decisions to make, but Chris’s use of the Defender range caught his eye.

With another trophy heading his way, it seemed the perfect opportunity to catch up. When we last featured Chris, Elite was a young business with an experienced pest controller at the helm and a clear commitment to helping residential customers. Almost a year later, we wanted to hear how things had developed, what he had learnt and what might come next.

A fresh roof worth protecting

This month’s winning installation took Chris to a former BT building being converted into flats. The roof tiles had been freshly painted a striking red, but pigeons sitting along the ridge threatened to spoil the finish with their droppings.

For the customer, keeping the building looking its best was an important part of preparing it for its next chapter. Bringing Chris in to proof the birds’ preferred perching spots would help protect the work already invested in the property and reduce the need for repeated cleaning.

Chris used Defender® Curved Ridge Spikes along the rounded ridge tiles, helping to prevent pigeons from settling at the highest point of the roof. Choosing a spike shaped to suit the ridge allows the base to follow the curve of the tile, with the 304 grade stainless steel pins creating a physical barrier to perching birds. Chris has done a brilliant job, laying them in a neat, straight line with no gaps. The tiles were clean and dry before fitting, and silicone was applied along the spike bases and to the stabilisers to help them bond securely.

He also fitted Defender® Wide Stainless Steel Spikes to the nearby wooden fence, screwing the strips onto the top through the holes in the base, giving pigeons fewer places to perch around the property.

It is a lovely example of how well planned bird proofing can help preserve a property’s appearance, and we are delighted to see Chris collecting his second Defender trophy.

“There have been some great installs, and I can’t believe I have won for the second time,” he told us.

From pest controller to business owner

Chris brought years of practical and management experience to Elite, but running his own business has added another dimension to every job.

Much of his work is quoted at a set price, so he needs to balance the time and care required to resolve the problem with the costs of delivering the service. The customer needs to feel confident in the quotation and the work, while the business needs to make a profit.

For Chris, that has been one of the biggest adjustments to being his own boss. Getting the pricing right supports the standard of service he wants to provide and helps ensure Elite can continue delivering it.

Building a name customers can trust

Winning contracts has been another learning experience. As Chris explains, commercial customers often look for an established name or a recommendation, which can make getting a foot in the door difficult for a newer business.

Although he arrived with plenty of industry experience, building recognition for Elite takes time. Each completed job is an opportunity to earn trust, demonstrate his approach and give a customer a reason to recommend him.

He is also clear that competing on price must leave enough room to do the work properly. Cutting corners risks both the result and the reputation he is working hard to build.

That belief runs through his advice to anyone thinking about starting their own pest control business: understand your own costs, charge accordingly and give customers a service they will be happy to recommend.

A quieter kitchen and a very relieved customer

When we first spoke to Chris, making experienced, affordable pest control available to householders was particularly important to him. That remains central to Elite, and one recent job shows what it means in practice.

A customer had been dealing with rats in the loft above an extension, despite previous attempts to resolve the problem. Chris suspected the drains, although the customer understood that a drain survey had already been carried out.

When no report was available to review, Chris offered to carry out a survey free of charge on this occasion. Just 1.4 metres into the drain, he found a hole where rats had gnawed through.

A non return valve was fitted as an interim measure until the customer could afford a permanent drain repair. Two months later, Chris reported that there had been no further problems.

For the householder, the difference was being able to sit and eat in the kitchen without hearing rats running around above the ceiling. It is a very human reminder of how unsettling a pest problem can become, and how much relief a successful visit can bring.

Chris also includes before and after photographs in his reports, giving customers a clear record of what he has found and the work carried out.

Growing faster than expected

At the time of our catch up, Chris was around 14 months into running Elite, and his proudest achievement was seeing how far the business had progressed.

The first year had gone considerably better than he forecast, with reactive pest control still making up the main focus of his work. When a householder discovers a pest problem, they want help quickly, and Chris has built his service around responding to that need.

Demand has now reached the point where he is considering taking on a technician. For a business that began with one person, that is an exciting step, but his reason for considering it is firmly rooted in customer care: he wants to keep providing a prompt response and a good standard of work as Elite grows.

Keeping the personal approach

Asked what he wants customers to remember, Chris comes back to the service they receive. Whether he is dealing with pigeons, gulls, rats or a wasp nest, he wants every customer booked into his system to feel they have received the same care and attention.

That personal involvement also makes switching off difficult. Pests do not keep office hours, and Chris admits he is conscious that stepping away from the phone could mean missing someone who needs his help.

It is a familiar challenge for many business owners, particularly when they are handling both the work on site and everything required to keep the business running. As Elite develops, protecting the quality and responsiveness of that service remains a clear priority.

Chris’s advice: go for it, but know your worth

For another pest controller considering setting up alone, Chris’s first response is enthusiastic: “Go for it!”

He knows there is risk involved, but he is pleased he took the opportunity. His practical advice is to work out what the business needs to earn each day, week and month, rather than basing prices on what another company charges.

Everyone has different overheads, and a cheaper competitor’s price may not work for your business. Chris believes that good customer service, repeat business and recommendations are worth building towards, even when growth takes time.

As he puts it, “All the hard work is worth it.”

Another trophy and plans for the year ahead

Looking ahead, Chris would like to develop the contract side of Elite alongside his busy reactive workload. Taking on a technician is also a possibility as he approaches the limits of what he can manage alone.

It has been lovely to catch up with Chris and hear how well the business is progressing. The commitment to residential customers that stood out in our first feature is still there, now backed by another year of running Elite and plenty of lessons learnt along the way. If you would like to read about his last win, take a look at his blog from November 2025

Huge congratulations on your second Installer of the Month win, Chris, and thank you for continuing to choose Defender® Bird Spikes. We look forward to seeing what the next year brings! A huge thank you to Gareth for giving his time and experience to judge this month’s competition. The standard was particularly high, and we really appreciate the care that goes into looking through the entries and choosing a winner. Thank you, Gareth, and thank you to everyone who made it such a difficult decision!

If you live in Cambridgeshire and would like to draw on Chris and Elite Pest Solutions expertise in solving your pest or bird issue, you can contact him through his website Elite Pest Solutions.