Defender® Installer of the Month | May | Highlander Pest Management

Our marvellous May winner of the Defender® Installer of the Month is Highlander Pest Management. Congratulations to HPM on their winning install using Defender® Wide Plastic. You did a great job!

Darren Garvie, who started Highlander Pest Management, has been in the pest control industry for over 20 years, starting with a national pest company carrying out council contracts. Over the last 20 years he has worked for 2 national companies and 4 local companies, so has an absolute wealth of experience and knowledge in the pest control industry.

Darren branched out and started HPM in 2022, covering East and Central Scotland including Fife, Dundee, Angus, Perthshire, Stirling and Stirlingshire. He covers all pest species from rodents, insects and birds in both domestic and commercial settings. Darren loves dealing with the more intricate ones as they need much more attention to detail and much more thorough work, like textile moths or bed bugs. He loves them and to be honest, wished he had started out on his own years ago. As a single worker, he only uses temporary part-time staff when required for bird work or hygiene cleaning etc. This year, however, he is incredibly positive with his outlook and hopes to have a trainee by winter, just in time for the furry friends to pop up.

So what about the job that won Highlander Pest Management this month's title of Installer of the Month? This installation was carried out on a domestic property. Birds were causing a nuisance on the roof ridges and chimney stacks, creating lots of mess and debris on the ground below. The customer is a friend of Darren's and was happy to buy the Defender® Bird Spikes himself via the website link. 48 hours later they arrived and Darren was ready to install them. We particularly liked this install as it clearly shows the attention to detail where Highlander Pest Management has taken the time to prep properly before installation. Darren has cleaned and wire brushed the moss and debris off the top of the ridge tile first, this ensures that the silicone creates a strong bond to spikes and the tiles, meaning these bird spike deterrents will stay in place for many years to come. Not cleaning efficiently and doing the prep is the number one reason some installs fail.

Darren has been installing bird control systems on and off throughout the last 20 years, completing many metres of spiking and netting. His attention to detail is second to none, and as he says, there is no excuse for laziness, leaving a dirty or unlabelled monitor or not completing the prep work for a bird job. This is what sets Highlander Pest Management apart; he thrives on customer service and saving customers from bad pest control experiences. In fact, for Darren the best part of the job is customer satisfaction. He absolutely loves that customers can trust him to solve their pest-related issues.

We like to ask our winners if they have a funny pest related story from over the years, this is Darrens:

‘I had been dealing with a busy rat problem in Falkirk in a block ... I had been moving an old carpet that had been left under the staircase/cellar area which the rats had absolutely obliterated to live in, well one had bolted into the small cupboard under the stairs, I followed to try and catch it however it disappeared into a hole in the floor. At the same time I must have startled one or it lost its grip on the wall ( I had not seen this rat at this point). it fell onto me, trapping itself in my hood, all the while I screeched like a hyena at the shock of said rat! I finally managed to get my coat off while still trapping the rat in said hood! Unknown to me two staff members were outside the main door having a cowhide trying to stay upright from laughing so hard at what they had just witnessed by me. Of course, I had to act manly and said the screech was the rat!’

Highlander Pest Management has used Defender® Bird Spikes many times in the past while working with other companies and is very happy with them. He told us we are his first choice, which is why he sent his customer and friend our way. He says he likes the very good quality and has never had any problems with installations. If you would like more information of the spikes used in Highlander Pest Managements install, check out the dedicated page for Defender® Wide Plastic Spikes

Thank you Darren for choosing our Defender® Bird Spikes, you are a star! Congratulations and whoop whoop again on winning Installer of the Month for May – keep up the good work!

If you live in Central or East Scotland and have a bird or pest control issue, do contact Highlander Pest Management. Darren is sure to offer you great advice and solve your pest problem!